The Abbott government ministry is one of the worst in the developed world for gender balance.
A new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development says the gap between women and men in ministerial positions in Australia has actually worsened since 2012, despite the government's reshuffle in December.
It says Australia now has fewer women in its highest ranks of government than every OECD country except for Greece, Korea, Turkey, Hungary and Slovakia.
Two countries the OECD is considering accepting into its fold - Latvia and Colombia - have far higher female representation in ministerial positions than Australia.
"The gender imbalance found in senior levels of central government considerably limits the role of women in the decision-making process," the report warns.
The OECD report, Government at a Glance 2015, is the first of its kind in two years.
It says governments have realised in recent decades that a more representative public administration provides them with access to "previously overlooked" knowledge and perspectives.
But it warns women "still face important barriers in reaching senior leadership positions," saying gender imbalance at the most senior levels of government needs to improve.
It shows Australia is lagging well behind the OECD average for its share of women ministers.
The Abbott government has just eight women in its 43-member cabinet, outer ministry and parliamentary secretary group following a reshuffle on December 21 last year (which doubled the number of women in the government's powerful cabinet, from one to two).
That reshuffle increased the number of women in the 43-member group from six to eight overall, from the government's first ministry arrangement in 2013, which was criticised for having a lack of women.
However, the OECD report also says Australia has one of the best gender-balanced senates in the developed world.
Australia has 76 members in its Senate, 31 of which are women.
"In 2014, the composition of [OECD parliaments], elected by citizens to take decisions that affect every aspect of their lives, did not reflect gender equality," the report says.
"On average, fewer than 30 per cent of seats in the lower and upper parliamentary houses of OECD countries were filled by women. Those that came closest to gender balance were the lower parliamentary houses of Sweden, Finland and Belgium and the higher parliamentary houses of Australia, Canada and Belgium."
There are 34 countries in the OECD.
The gender balance of Australia's senate has improved slightly since the data in the OECD report was compiled, with three women - Labor's Katy Gallagher and Jenny McAllister, and the Liberal National Party's Joanna Lindgren - joining the senate this year.
Women in the Abbott government:
- There are two women in its 19-member cabinet: Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and Health and Sport Minister Sussan Ley.
- It has three women in its 11-member outer ministry: Assistant Minister for Health Fiona Nash, Human Services Minister Marise Payne and Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Michaelia Cash.
- It has three more women in its 13-member group of parliamentary secretaries.