Shorten defends family payment cuts

The coalition's cuts to family tax benefits are massive and far deeper than what Labor is proposing, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has argued.

Mr Shorten was defending the cuts announced by Labor on Friday, emphasising the targeted nature of his proposal as he responds to claims he has backflipped on the issue.

Labor was vocal in its opposition to similar cuts proposed by the coalition in the 2014 budget and has kept those measures tied up in the Senate.

"We made clear that families underneath $100,000 shouldn't receive the brunt of government cuts," Mr Shorten told reporters in Sydney.

Modelling for the Weekend Australian by the Australian National University's social research arm confirmed Mr Shorten's assertion that low-income families would be better off under his cuts than the coalition's.

It also showed the average working family with two children would be around $400 a year worse off under Labor's proposal.