Labor would have faced a very serious risk of meltdown without the historic ballot for the leadership two years ago, the party's national president Mark Butler says.
Tuesday marks the second anniversary of Bill Shorten winning the first-ever ballot of caucus and grassroots ALP members for the leadership.
The process - which involved the Left's Anthony Albanese and Mr Shorten - was put in place following the Julia Gillard-Kevin Rudd battle which reduced Labor to minority government in 2010 and delivered power to Tony Abbott in 2013.
Mr Butler said on Monday the ballot process had been cathartic for the party.
"If we didn't have a process that was conducted by the two candidates in a very constructive, positive, respectful way ... we ran a very serious risk of melting down into a pretty destructive period of recrimination and blame allocation," he told AAP.
"It got us off the canvas quickly."
He said the longer-term legacy of the ballot was to show members they could have a say in important party decisions.
"There's no putting the toothpaste back in the tube - that is how we do stuff now and I hope it's a legacy that lasts," he said.
Mr Butler was disappointed this year's ALP national conference did not succeed in reforming the way upper house candidates are selected, but was pleased with the adoption of affirmative action and a strong position on same-sex marriage.
He said the party has been "solid as a rock" under Mr Shorten and deputy leader Tanya Plibersek after the previous "shocking period".
Mr Shorten was Labor's seventh leader in 10 years.
Just after the ballot some caucus members warned of the return of factional politics, with former speaker Anna Burke describing the frontbench reshuffle as "a couple of blokes sitting around a room carving up the spoils".
Asked whether some Labor MPs continued to blame Mr Shorten for past problems, Mr Butler said: "There might be one or two around I don't know of, but I think the overwhelming bulk just want to move on."
"(ALP members) don't want to haggle over who did what to whom and who the angels were and who the demons were - they want to focus on defeating the government."
Mr Albanese, who won the majority of grassroots votes but lost the caucus vote, described the 2013 ballot as a "watershed in grassroots participation".
"It helped unify our party and engender a sense of purpose that has seen Labor well placed to be successful at the next election," he said in a statement to AAP.
Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne said Labor had been "coasting" for two years.
"They haven't done that deep thinking that oppositions need to do," Mr Pyne said.
But Mr Butler said fully costed policies had been released earlier than any previous opposition.
