Shorten is campaigning to reverse the Liberal government's cuts to Australia's public health system as economic growth continues to waver, with above average GDP growth of 3% in 2015 failing to offset stagnant income levels and high unemployment.

"Australia is a small, quite open economy -- we've benefited enormously over the last decade and a half through increased spending in China... but that does mean we're subject to slowing down conditions in China too," Sydney's Centre for Independent Studies research manager Simon Cowan said.

But no matter who wins, Australia's controversial refugee laws will stay in place.

What are Australians voting for?

Australia's July 2 vote will be a double dissolution election, which means both Houses of Parliament, the House of Representatives and all members of the Senate, will face the electorate.

As a parliamentary democracy, Australian voters will cast their ballots for different parties, and the party or parties with more than 50% of votes will form government. The leader of the party who forms a government will become prime minister.

Turnbull was hugely popular when he took over the leadership but some supporters were disappointed when he kept his predecessor Abbott's right-wing policies.

"People anticipated Turnbull would deliver a lot more. Some of the expectations arose just because he was Turnbull, with all the hype that brought."

Five Prime Ministers since 2010

Since 2010, Australia has had five prime ministers in six years, beginning with Labor's Kevin Rudd who was replaced by his deputy Julia Gillard in a late-night coup which shocked the country.

Three years later, Rudd seized back power only to lose the 2013 election to then-Liberal leader Tony Abbott.

Lowy Institute Polling Program director Alex Oliver said the constant turnover of leaders in Australia was a symptom of the same problem affecting other Western democracies, including the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

"We don't have a EU debate and we don't have a President Trump... but they are the same global forces, particularly in the West, that we're seeing in play. They're just manifesting themselves in different ways," she said.

'Harmful' refugee policy to remain

Refugees who are placed in the camps are unable to seek asylum in Australia at all.

In addition, the Australian navy was given permission to turn back boats of refugees encountered at sea, sending them back to their country of origin.

Turnbull has said he will keep the asylum seeker system as it is, while the Labor party has insisted it will maintain the current regime with only minor changes.

In fact, Shorten led the charge to change his party's policy platform to include the navy turning back boats of refugees.