Women were dropping out of management positions at high rates, Workplace Gender Equality Agency's chief executive Christine Castley said ahead of the organisation's 40th birthday.
The agency marked its anniversary at Government House on Wednesday, where Governor-General Sam Mostyn called out the "most horrible attacks" women faced online.
"We've seen degradation and lack of civility for women who stand up in politics, particularly at local government, but across politics, where women can't speak out without being threatened, they're sexualised, and their families are attacked," she said.
"That's a big change for all of us to have to step up ... and say when these appointments are made, wherever they sit, women in leadership are an important part of our society.
"We should be pushing back on those that choose those moments to really attack, and that all of these gains, every single one of them, is not at the expense of someone else."
When the Workplace Gender Equality Agency was founded, more than half of the nation's women did not have paid jobs.
Now, roughly two-thirds of Australian women work outside the home, in both full-time and part-time roles.
But four decades on, Ms Castley said most companies still struggled to retain females in the best-paid positions, particularly in industries saturated by men, as they were expected to do a far greater share of at-home labour.
Women are far more likely to take on part-time roles than their male counterparts as a result, and most management jobs are full-time positions.
Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said society had to be "quite deliberate" in moving forward to ensure employers and businesses changed to understand the benefit of trying to bring more women into their workforce.
"We have to look at the trends and always keep an eye on those trends," he said.
Promotion of paid parental leave for both genders and flexible working hours were key to creating better retention in management roles.
International engineering and construction firm Laing O'Rourke, which attended the event, introduced six months of fully paid parental leave for all parents in 2022.
Women made up 14 per cent of the best-paid employees in the company's construction arm during the 2024/25 financial year, compared with less than 10 per cent across the industry.
Agency data also showed women were 30 per cent of Laing O'Rourke's construction employees, compared with an industry average of 21 per cent.
Former governor-general Dame Quentin Bryce said people who helped make history needed to be remembered.
"I celebrate seeing half of our parliament (be) women ... I was always very optimistic about changing the world, and I still am," she told AAP.
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