Treasury bureaucrats have revealed Mr Hockey personally directed that a strategy be devised to accompany the imminent launch of the Coalition's tax white paper process.

So far, $650,000 has been allocated for focus groups and a slick communications strategy to "convince people of the need for reform", a Treasury official told a Senate estimates committee on Thursday.

The Australian Financial Review revealed on Friday that a public information campaign, including TV commercials, will accompany  the intergenerational report and the government recently came under fire for spending $8 million on an advertising blitz to promote its proposed higher education reforms.

Public affairs firm GRACosway, co-chaired by former Liberal minister Helen Coonan and Keating-era Labor treasurer John Dawkins, has been paid $360,000 to prepare the communications effort on tax reform.

The project is being led by GRACosway executive Richard King, a former Coalition ministerial staffer. Mr King was a senior political adviser within former Treasurer Peter Costello's Tax Reform Unit.

Treasury deputy secretary Rob Heferen said past governments have relied on the release of discussion papers but said Mr Hockey was keen to "get people engaged in the process".

"The Treasurer this time around was very concerned that the old way of doing things was simply not going to cut the mustard," he said.

Mr Hockey has been widely criticised from inside and outside the government for failing to convince the electorate of the need for budget repair. The Treasurer said in December the government had "made a mistake" in communicating about tough budget measures with voters and "neglected the conversation".

Labor senator Sam Dastyari, who grilled the Treasury officials, said after the hearing that Mr Hockey was using public funds to sell his message.

"Joe Hockey is bribing the Australian people with half a million bucks of their own money. It looks like the Mad Men of the Abbott government have asked the Mad Men of the Australian advertising industry to pitch their tax ideas," he said.

GRACosway has been paid $70,000 develop a PR strategy and $180,000 to advise on implementing the strategy. They stand to make another $110,000 under the contract.

Market research firm TNS was paid $80,000 to poll 1200 people and run focus groups.

Assistant Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham told the Economics Legislation committee that the plan, which will include a dedicated tax white paper website, was "more an engagement strategy than an advertising campaign".

Senator Birmingham said the initial discussion paper on tax reform would be released "relatively soon", followed by a green paper later in the year and the white paper before the next election.

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