The Albanese government has ruled out further tax reform this term as it seeks to bed down a raft of changes to improve the economy.

The Business Council this week called for “comprehensive tax reform”, saying the government would not be able to efficiently raise the money it needs to pay for services or provide the right incentive for investment without it.

However, senior government sources said there would be no tax reform this term beyond that already flagged by the government.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in the lead-up to the Intergenerational Report, to be released on Thursday, his priority was overhauling taxes on multinationals, high-balance superannuation accounts and offshore petroleum production.

Already-legislated stage three income tax cuts are expected to come into effect next year, but further changes beyond these are not anticipated.

Labor is still reeling from the way the ambitious Henry tax review was received 13 years ago.

But government sources say there is an appetite for tax changes in bite-sized chunks beyond this term.

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said the reforms proposed by the government were not insignificant and represented a “fairly big agenda”.

“We’ve got our efforts to ensure that multinationals pay their fair share,” he told Sky News on Wednesday.

“We’re introducing more fairness into the taxation arrangements in superannuation around high-balance superannuation funds, and really digging down on tax avoidance.

“A big thing that I’m focused on is ensuring that we can show to Australians that under the existing rules every Australian is paying what they ought to be paying and that we’re really reducing the tax avoidance.”

Mr Jones said the government was committed to tax reform because Australians expected a certain level of services and a balanced budget.

“Nobody wants to pay tax, but we’ve got to ensure that we’re going to a system that is fair and efficient and that’s what the existing measures a directed towards.”

He said GST changes were not on the government’s agenda.

The Intergenerational Report will set out the medium- and long-term challenges for the Australian economy.

The biggest shifts are expected to be from globalisation to fragmentation, fossil fuels to renewables, IT to artificial intelligence, a younger to older population, and an industrial base to a care-based economy.

The government is rolling out a reform strategy based on making the economy more dynamic and productive and creating more opportunities in more parts of the country, especially where there is disadvantage.

The focus will be on budget repair, targeting inflation, transforming energy markets, the labour and migration systems, broadening the industrial base, driving investment, more efficient markets, and renewing institutions such as the Reserve Bank.

A government source said beyond addressing the cost of living, the key economic issue was the energy transformation as the country heads to net-zero emissions and trading partners shift to cleaner technologies.

This will involve the new safeguard mechanism, the development of hydrogen, the Net Zero Authority, working with the United States, and helping the Indo-Pacific region decarbonise.

The Employment White Paper and migration review to be released in coming months will provide the foundation for further reform.

The government is also looking at attracting more and better-quality foreign investment through a future overhaul of regulations and smoother access for trusted investors.

Changes to mergers and acquisitions and a Southeast Asia economy strategy are also on the cards.

Laws to change the way the Reserve Bank operates are expected to be in place by mid-2024, following a landmark review of its processes.

– AAP