Intergenerational report to focus on increasing productivity: Treasurer Jim Chalmers

Dr Chalmers will unveil the full report on Thursday, providing insight into how the Australian economy and society will change over the next 40 years.

It will forecast a doubling in demand for care services over coming decades, with government spending to spike in the aged care sector. Investment in health, the NDIS, defence and interest payments on debt will also increase.

The country's population is expected grow at a much slower rate compared to the past 40 years, reaching 40.5 million people in 2062/63.

"I'm optimistic about the future but we need to adapt and understand the big challenges which are under way in our economy and our society and the intergenerational report will help us do that," Dr Chalmers said on Monday.

"The intergenerational report will put a more productive economy absolutely front and centre in what we need to do in the decades ahead to prosper in the coming years.

"We need to make our economy more productive, not by making people work harder and longer for less, but by combining the things that we know will deliver productivity growth in the coming decades."

"Economic dynamism and resilience, a role for data and digital, a more skilled and adaptable workforce, focus on the care economy and services sector. And also the vast industrial opportunities that come from our pursuit of net zero becoming a clean energy superpower."

The nation's peak business lobby, the Business Council of Australia, has called for more bold changes to "reverse the nation's productivity slump", including through tax reform and increasing the GST.

But Dr Chalmers said the government had no intention of changing the rate of the GST.

"We think the most fertile ground for tax reform is multinationals, high balance superannuation compliance, cigarettes and [Petroleum Resource Rent Tax] reform," he said.

The Treasurer announced on Monday the government released the first tranche of its draft Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) legislation, which proposes limiting deductions for offshore liquefied natural gas projects. The changes would net the government $2.4 billion over four years.

But Labor would need the support of the Coalition or the Greens and two independents to get the changes through the Senate.

Dr Chalmers called it a "sensible change that has been worked through methodically", adding the legislation would be an "important test for the Coalition and for the Greens".

He will speak at the National Press Club on Thursday to detail the intergenerational report.

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