Hillary Clinton has leapt to the defence of Julia Gillard, saying in her new book that the former prime minister suffered ‘‘outrageous sexism’’.

Mrs Clinton, whose book Hard Choices covers her time as US secretary of state, wrote that ‘‘women in public life still face an unfair double standard".

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton says she told Julia Gillard to confront her detractors. Credit:AP

"Even leaders like former prime minister Julia Gillard of Australia have faced outrageous sexism which shouldn’t be tolerated in any country," Mrs Clinton wrote.

The pair met in Perth in 2012, with Mrs Clinton giving Ms Gillard some sage advice about confronting her detractors and calling out the sexism.