It was seeing herself as the only woman in a 19-strong cabinet room, where the prime minister had appointed himself the minister for women, which made Julie Bishop think “it was quite clear that we have some way to go” in addressing gender inequality and discrimination.

Australia’s first female foreign affairs minister said she was constantly asked – when first appointed to cabinet in 2006 as the minister for education, science and training, as well as the minister for women’s issues – by men and “only men”, “Why isn’t there a minister for men’s issues?”.

“I thought the answer so self-evident that it didn’t require a response,” Bishop told the audience at an International Women’s Day event in Hobart.

“Fast forward to 2013, when I was back in cabinet as the deputy leader of the Liberal party and the minister for foreign affairs. I was the only woman in that 19-member cabinet. So the prime minister, Tony Abbott, appointed himself the minister for women’s issues.

“Some seven years on I thought it was quite clear that we have some way to go in addressing the issues of gender equality and discrimination.”

But Bishop stopped short of recommending quotas to address the issue of bringing more women into federal parliament, where Australia has dropped from 15th in the world for female representation two decades ago, to 50th.

“Our numbers haven’t changed – it is about 30%. But so many other nations have increased their female representation in their parliaments.

“… the issue of quotas versus targets is one which will continue for some time – the point is this – you need a critical mass of women to ensure that they can fulfil their ambitions. The talent is there.”

You need a critical mass of women to ensure that they can fulfil their ambitions. Julie Bishop

Bishop, who received just 10 votes from her partyroom in the August leadership spill, despite her experience within the party, also observed that women had a different leadership style from men.

“Women are better at building teams,” she said.

“They are more empathic, they focus on the needs of the individual. And this leads to greater morale, higher productivity. And men are more transactional. Much more adversarial. Much less sensitive, much less empathic.

“But you need a combination of both leadership styles – not one, not the other – you need a combination of both to achieve the best outcomes.”

Scott Morrison recently increased female representation in the cabinet from six to seven, with the appointment of Linda Reynolds to the defence industry position, following Steve Ciobo’s retirement announcement.

The Liberal party’s comparatively low record of female representation in the federal parliament, highlighted following bullying complaints in the wake of the August leadership spill, has seen the party come under fire.

Julia Banks’s resignation from the party late last year reduced the number of Liberal party female MPs in the lower house to 12.

Of that number, Jane Prentice lost preselection to a man, Ann Sudmalis announced she was retiring after a vicious fight with branch preselectors and was replaced with a man, who was then replaced by another man, and both Bishop and O’Dwyer announced their retirement.

Katie Allen won the Higgins preselection to replace O’Dwyer, which is expected to be a tight contest this coming election, with Banks also replaced by a woman, Gladys Liu, in the marginal seat of Chisholm. Bishop’s Curtin branch, a much safer electorate, is still making its way through the preselection process.

A swing against the government of 3%, applied uniformly, could see just eight women returned as Liberal party MPs following the May poll.

In the Senate, women claim 10 of the Liberal party’s 31 seats, with three more women heading state tickets – thereby all but guaranteed a position – at the next election. But Lucy Gichuhi has been relegated to an unwinnable spot on the South Australian ticket, most likely leading to an increase of just two women holding Liberal Senate spots overall.

Labor, which has had quotas in place since 1994 with an aim of 50% parity, can claim 29 women out of 69 lower house seats, while 15 of their 26 senators are women, with the overall female caucus representation sitting at 46%.

Morrison said he was “just getting on with it”, with the party having so far preselected 19 women across the Senate and House of Representative ballots.

“We’re getting on with it. People have a clear steer from me about where I place these issues,” he said on Monday.

“I have been moving quickly on those issues since becoming prime minister and the results speak for themselves. The results actually do.

“Others can look at that record but so far, in just six months in the job, 19 female candidates, we have Wendy Askew [retiring Tasmanian senator David Bushby’s sister] coming into the parliament as we come back, and even yesterday, one of my proudest days as prime minister, the Nancy Bird airport [naming announcement] in Western Sydney to recognise one of our great aviation pioneers.”

Morrison also recently announced Ita Buttrose as his handpicked candidate to chair the ABC board.

In concluding her speech, Bishop said she was “conscious” that women who reached senior positions “have a responsibility to make it easier, not harder for other women to follow in their footsteps”, something she said she was “very conscious” of in her own roles, so was “delighted” Marise Payne succeeded her as foreign minister.