Parents will no longer have to work or study to be eligible for taxpayer-funded childcare subsidies, and the government will spend up to $1 billion funding centres in underserved areas, in a major step by Anthony Albanese towards delivering universal and affordable early childhood education.

In a pre-election speech on Wednesday, the prime minister will scrap the activity test for up to three days a week of care and, according to sources familiar with the policy, announce taxpayer funding for early education centres in so-called “childcare deserts”, which exist predominantly in the outer suburbs and the regions.