Peta Credlin has hit back at "unnamed sources" who dogged her final months in Canberra by suggesting cabinet ministers and journalists intimidated by her didn't deserve their jobs.

Speaking at the Women of the Future Awards in Sydney on Tuesday night, former prime minister Tony Abbott's chief-of-staff spoke candidly about the "bloody tough" time she had experienced as a senior woman in Australian politics over the past decade.

In her first in-depth public speaking appearance, Ms Credlin said she "refused to be defined by insider gossip from unnamed sources when no one has the guts to put their name to it".