Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens has delivered a rebuke to the nation and its leaders, warning that 25 years of economic growth have bred complacency over what it takes to fix the budget and prepare for the next crisis.

In his final extensive interview as governor, Mr Stevens said the record run of growth, officially confirmed on Wednesday, threatened to leave voters and politicians with the deluded view that it's "just the natural state of affairs, that we don't need to do anything to achieve it".