SEXISM is rife in Australian workplaces because of the country's blokey culture, says the Federal Government's gender equality watchdog.

Despite high profile women in parliament, progress towards gender equity more broadly had stalled, said director of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency Helen Conway, in an exclusive interview with News Limited.

A former company secretary of oil giant Caltex, Ms Conway said it was disgraceful that you could count on one hand the female chief executives of Australia's top 200 companies listed on the stock exchange.

They are: Gail Kelly (Westpac), Kerrie Mather (Sydney Airports Corporation), Katie Page (Harvey Norman), Alison Watkins (Graincorp) and Chua Sock Koong (Singapore Telecommunications Ltd).

"Frankly, we are still in a pretty disgraceful state there," Ms Conway said.

The number of female chief executives has increased from just two a decade ago, but went backwards recently due to the departure of Pacific Brands' chief executive Sue Morphett and Macarthur Coals's Nicole Hollows.

On other indicators of gender equality, including the gender pay gap and the proportion of women in business leadership roles, the data shows not much progress.

Ms Conway said the unusual nature of women in positions of leadership made them targets for extra scrutiny and commentary.

"I think it has been hyper sexualised and has brought a demeaning element to these comments," she said.

"We have got a female governor general, a female prime minister and now we have a female speaker of the (Parliament) House.

"They keep the focus on this unusual circumstance where you have got women in positions of power.

"Those in our community who don't really respect women have a go and it's not just your 'John Howard's got big eyebrows' - it's more sexual in nature."

In the business world, the lack of progress has also been striking.

"Frankly, there are some people in the business community who don't want to give up power - men who don't want to give it up," she said.

Ms Conway said misogyny was an overused term but sexism, treating someone differently based on gender, was present in most workplaces.

The vice-president of Chief Executive Women, Christine Christian, which raises funds to provide scholarships for future women leaders, said the lack of Australian female chief executives was disappointing and increasingly unacceptable.

"People like to employ people who they know, who they trust, who they feel very comfortable with. In many cases women have not traditionally been able to fit that model," Ms Christian said.

Ms Conway welcomed a national debate about gender but said policy needed to go beyond words to policies that empowered men to take up flexible work arrangements.

"This is not a women's problem: It's a family issue. I have not seen any immaculate conceptions - it takes two to tango.

"Men are also disadvantaged because it's very difficult for men to take up flexible work arrangements.

"The focus should be on gender equality and making it normal for men and women."