Head of Australia's foreign affair department calls for more females in senior positions

The female head of Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has expressed her disappointment at the lack of women in high ranking positions within the organization, saying there has never been a female ambassador in major cities such as Jakarta, Washington and London.

Speaking at a conference discussing the role of women in Australia's national security landscape, DFAT secretary Frances Adamson said it was "not good enough" that women were not represented in senior roles within the organization.

Adamson herself broke a glass ceiling in 2016 when she was named the first female DFAT Secretary.

She told the conference at the Australian National University (ANU) it was unacceptable that, in 105 years, there had never been a female head of the Australian High Commission in London.

"It's not good enough that there are only two women ministers on the National Security Committee of Cabinet," Adamson said overnight.

While many women were not being given the chance to prove themselves in these roles, she admitted there were also a lot of women who were reluctant to even apply for high-up roles out of fear of rejection.

"So many good women are waiting to be tapped on the shoulder and not putting themselves forward," she said.

"I didn't think I'd have to deal with targets, now I embrace it."

In 2015, DFAT implemented a "Women in Leadership" program which aimed at increasing the female representation within the organization, while it also required all high-up managers to undergo "unconscious bias" training to ensure women would fill 43 percent of the organization's 'senior executive' positions by 2020. Endit