The federal government is so concerned about the presentation of this week's Intergenerational Report that it has spent $380,000 on focus groups to test reactions.

The contract was awarded to consultants Hall & Partners Open Mind, whose website says it specialises in brand and communications research with "fresh new approaches to measuring consumer engagement and participation with brands".

Treasurer Joe Hockey in Parliament on Monday. Credit:Andrew Meares

A Senate hearing was told last week that Hall & Partners had conducted 30 focus groups on the report since November.

"That has been through a couple of different stages of the research and has obviously been conducted across a number of groups in various locations, various demographics," the head of treasury's ministerial and communications division Luke Hickey told the committee.