The nation is "turning the corner", Anthony Albanese says as he makes the case for a second term in office.
Voters will go to the polls on May 3 after the prime minister called the federal election on Friday.
After three years in the top job, he said the election campaign would be based on his track record on cost-of-living issues.
"This is a time for building - building on our nation's strengths, building our security and prosperity for ourselves, building an Australia where no one is held back and no one is left behind," Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Friday.
Labor launched its first campaign ad, in which Mr Albanese touches on cost of living as a key issue.
"Repairing an economy takes time, but Australia is turning the corner," he says.
He also points to proposed tax cuts unveiled in Tuesday's federal budget and energy bill relief.
Earlier, Mr Albanese said he intended to serve a full term as leader if he won the election and ruled out forming a coalition with the Greens if there was a hung parliament.
Issues regarding health are expected to dominate the election campaign, with Mr Albanese pulling out a Medicare card several times during his opening pitch.
He also drew on the fact that his late mother, who was an invalid pensioner, received the same level of treatment in public hospitals as billionaire Kerry Packer.
"We need the Australian way," Mr Albanese said.
"The Australian way is that we look after each other ... they're the Australian values. That's what I'll fight for."
He said Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's campaign would be "all about fear".
"Peter Dutton last night gave a budget reply that was all about fear," Mr Albanese said.
"What I want is a campaign that's about policy substance, that's about hope and optimism for our country."
The election call came days after the government handed down its federal budget on Tuesday, which provided tax cuts to all Australian workers that won't come into effect until July 2026.
Mr Albanese seized on the fact the coalition had pledged to repeal the tax cuts should the opposition form government.
"The biggest risk to all of this is not what’s happening elsewhere in the world," he said.
"The biggest risk to Australia’s future is going back to the failures of the past, the tax increases, and cuts to services that Peter Dutton and the Liberal Party want to lock in."
Labor has 78 seats in the House of Representatives and would not be able to form a majority government if it suffered a net loss of three seats.
