Daniel McCulloch
(Australian Associated Press)

Scott Morrison insists his government’s widely criticised coronavirus tracing application is working as designed.

The prime minister says the COVIDSafe app has been involved in tracing more than 300 cases in Victoria.

“It’s supposed to work in combination with the physical tracing that is done by contact officers – the two go together,” he told Triple M Melbourne on Wednesday.

“Technically, it’s working fine.”

While the app has been involved in tracing infections, it has not identified any unknown close contacts.

“It’s doing its job but it was never supposed to be in isolation to replace physical tracing,” Mr Morrison said.

“The physical tracing is quickly identifying a lot of the contacts.”

Labor has described the $2 million app as an expensive dud, with government senator Matt Canavan also conceding the technology had not been as successful as first hoped.

“People taking pot shots at it, I think, are just undermining confidence and that’s not a good thing,” the prime minister said.

“It’s a good thing to get people to download the app and not be throwing stones.”