Health Minister Greg Hunt has been accused of insulting Australia's thalidomide survivors after the government delayed a formal response until 2020.

Thalidomide is a drug that was sold in the 1960s to pregnant women as relief from morning sickness but resulted in deformities in their babies. There are an estimated 100 living survivors in Australia.

Inadequate action from Health Minister Greg Hunt's office and lack of access to the Prime Minister has frustrated Thalidomide victims. AAP

A Senate inquiry concluded in March this year and found the current supports available to thalidomide survivors are inadequate.

It made 11 recommendations and said the government should issue a formal apology as well as provide compensation to enable survivors to live with their disabilities. The findings were backed by the entire committee.

Lisa McManus, 55, is Australia's youngest thalidomide survivor. Supplied

But Health Minister Greg Hunt has told survivors that they should not expect a government response to the Senate inquiry until a year later than recommended, in mid-2020.

The only action the government has so far taken is to offer survivors a plaque at a remote position in a paddock at the nascent National Arboretum in Canberra.

Survivors immediately described it as inadequate not just because it is difficult to access, but because they feared they'd be dead by the time it was ready to flourish.

"While the site is currently in its infancy, its placement at the foot of a steep hill makes it difficult for those with mobility challenges," said Lisa McManus, who at age 55 is Australia's youngest thalidomide survivor.

"While the garden and surroundings might [as suggested], be beautiful in a 15-year timeframe, by then most thalidomide victims will be dead or immobile."

Ms McManus said she had felt "optimistic and validated" when the report was handed down in March, but that the response from the Morrison government had left her "disheartened".

"We are frustrated by inadequate action from Minister Hunt's office and lack of access to the Prime Minister. This most recent delay has left us feeling saddened, disillusioned and angry."

"This government has no heart," she said.

She said she feared that by the time the government acted, it might be too late for survivors.

"Time has been an issue since the day we were born, most of us are losing mobility and independence at a daily rate," Ms McManus said.

"To ask our survivors to continue to wait for a response from the Minister is unconscionable."

The opposition's health spokesman Chris Bowen and Bill Shorten, the opposition spokesman for the NDIS, have written a letter to the Health Minister, seen by this paper.

"We feel strongly that the prospect of a year's delay is an insult from your government to Australia's thalidomide survivors," the pair wrote to Mr Hunt.

"As the inquiry found, Australian survivors are ageing and in urgent need of health and financial support.

"They cannot wait a year for your government to respond to - let alone implement - the inquiry's recommendations."

The pair urged Mr Hunt and the Disabilities Minister Stuart Robert to act urgently.

"You will have our full bipartisan support if you do - and you should expect our ongoing scrutiny if you do not,' the pair said.

A spokesman for the Health Minister described the agony of thalidomide sufferers as "a national tragedy".

He noted victims are eligible for disability support, and to date are estimated to have received a combined total of $140 million from the Australian distributor of thalidomide (Diageo Australia) via various court settlements and other types of payments.

"On top of these payments, the Minister has written to Diageo seeking further lifetime compensation for victims," he said.