This year's intergenerational report is being released on Thursday and will reveal that economic growth will be sluggish over the next four decades compared to previous ones.
But the critical mineral sector is expected to expand as the world moves to net zero emissions by the middle of the century.
Global demand is expected to increase by 350 per cent by 2040, positioning Australia to take advantage of the booming industry with its vast reserves of lithium, nickel, zinc and bauxite.
Australia's exports of this critical mineral are forecast to double over the next five years.Â
But the treasurer is facing calls to be more ambitious with his tax reform agenda.
Dr Chalmers said the government was making meaningful changes to the nation's tax base despite labelling the changes as "modest" as it pushed to boost revenue from offshore gas projects and claw back money from large superannuation balances.
"They are helping us to get the budget in a much better nick," he told the ABC's 7.30 program.
"They will save us in interest repayments over the course of the intergenerational report period, they will ... rebuild our buffers against this global economic uncertainty."
Superannuation is also set to shield the budget from an ageing population with the $3.5 trillion asset pool meaning fewer Australians will be on the pension.
But the government is also bracing for increased spending across health, defence and interest repayments.
"You need to look right across the tax system and your tax base needs to be robust enough to fund the kinds of services that people rely on, particularly as our population lives longer and healthier lives," Dr Chalmers said.
But he ruled out any changes to the headline corporate tax rate despite the make-up of Australia's tax revenue into the future changing as money from cigarettes and fuel excises dry up.
The Australian Council of Social Service wants the government to strengthen the progressive tax system in order to pay for essential services and welfare.
The council wants a 15 per cent levy on post-retirement super earnings to fund aged care and a 10 per cent royalty on offshore gas resources on top of getting rid of off-road fuel tax credits to help fund the transition to renewable energy.
It has also called for an expansion of the high-income Medicare levy and getting rid of the stage three tax cuts which are set to cost the budget hundreds of billions of dollars.
Greens leader Adam Bandt also called for a progressive tax agenda, saying it could put up to $1 trillion in the government's coffers over the next decade to tackle intergenerational inequality.
The money would come from a corporate and mining super profits tax, ending fossil fuel subsidies, changes to the offshore gas tax, winding back negative gearing and scrapping the stage three tax cuts.
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