Outgoing Treasury boss Martin Parkinson is confident Australia will seize the opportunities that create a path to continuing prosperity.
In his final public address, Dr Parkinson told a Sydney audience on Friday the continuous economic growth Australia has enjoyed over the past 23 years - and well into its 24th - was neither an accident or easy.
"It was built on the tough decisions made by governments in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s," he told the European Australian Business Council.
The challenges and opportunities facing the country in the next few decades will differ from those faced in the past.
But he believes the economic frameworks and institutions that have been put in place, combined with an ongoing commitment to reform by successive governments, ensures Australia is in a position to seize opportunities and create a path to continuing prosperity.
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"I think Australia has a great track record for generating and implementing good public policy ideas, amongst the best in the world in fact," the Treasury secretary said.
When Dr Parkinson first joined Treasury in 1981, the thought of such a long run of sustained economic growth, particularly after the experience of the 1970s - low growth, high inflation and increasing unemployment - would have seemed an "improbable outcome".
He noted about 50 per cent of people in work today were not old enough to work at the time of the last recession in 1990/91.
"That is not to say that the economy has not experienced periods of slower growth in that time ... but these periods of slower growth have not resulted in recessions," he said.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has yet to announce a replacement for Dr Parkinson, although this week promised the appointment would be made soon.
