'We can own the future': Treasurer flags vast opportunities in upcoming intergenerational report

Flagging the release of the latest intergenerational report on August 24, Dr Chalmers said the document would highlight the major forces shaping the society, the economy and the budget over the next 40 years.

These would include the shift to renewables, the rise of artificial intelligence, the ageing of the population and the possible retreat of globalisation.

"Australians can own the future if we manage and maximise the big shifts underway and make the most of this defining decade that we're in right now," the Treasurer told ABC radio.

"Our big objective here has to be, how do we make more Australians beneficiaries, not victims, of the big shifts and transitions which are underway in our economy and in our society.

"We do that by making our economy more productive and more dynamic and more competitive, but also by making sure that ... more people feel the benefits of that".

The next intergenerational report will be the sixth produced by Treasury and comes just two years after the most recent document, which was released by then-treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

The 2021 report was developed in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak and predicted the pandemic would have long-lasting effects including a smaller population and a temporary fall in the fertility rate. It expected a decline in the terms of trade that would drag on national income growth and forecast the budget to be in deficit through to 2024-25.

Since then, international borders have re-opened, Russia invaded Ukraine, global inflation has soared and commodity prices have spiraled.

As a consequence, the budget is predicted to achieve a $20 billion-plus surplus when last financial year's final budget outcome is released and there is speculation of a further surplus this financial year.

The 2021 intergenerational report projected the budget to remain in deficit through to 2060-61 because spending on health, aged care and interest payments on government debt was expected to increase while revenue would be constrained by the tax-to-GDP cap.

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The Albanese government has scrapped the tax cap and devoted much of its revenue windfall to paying down debt and reducing the interest bill. But increasing demand for health and aged care is expected to persist as the population grows older.

Dr Chalmers said he will use a speech to the National Press Club on August 24 to map out the government's response to the challenges identified by the IGR.

"What we've tried to do in the IGR ... is to make it largely depoliticised, heavily factual, lots of forecasts from the Treasury about how we are expecting our economy and our budget and our society to evolve over the next 40 years," he said.

"The speech that I'll give at the same time will be about how we plan to manage and maximise these big shifts."