Tributes are flowing for former Australian Prime Minister Minister Gough Whitlam, who's died at the age of 98.

Mr Whitlam lead Australia for three years in the '70s, launching sweeping reforms of the nation's economic and culture affairs .. until his dismissal by the governor-general amid a constitutional crisis.

Current Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Gough Whitlam changed the nation.

"Whether you worked for him or against him, it was his vision that drove our politics then, and which still echoes through our public life four decades on."