There's more to Australia than mining

Australians must be feeling pretty smug these days. Despite a collapse in global commodity prices, it has managed to escape recession yet again.

So what are Australians getting right?

It may just come down to that "lucky country" cliché we hear about all the time.

There's no denying that as mines have closed, jobs have been lost and that's putting pressure on the government to find new avenues of growth - but don't forget Australia is already a highly diversified economy.

Services like tourism, finance, business, technology and education are major components of Australia's economy and they've benefited from a weaker Australian dollar.

All iron ore and oil, you say?

The agriculture sector is also seeing renewed interest - check out the report I did on Australia's agricultural sector here.

Mining has also seen a boost from the lower Australian dollar, because it has meant that Australia's products are cheaper at a time when demand has dropped.

Investments in mining software have helped the industry to remain competitive even in a downturn, and maintain Australia's global share of resource exports.