Do you think women in Australia are given a fair go? Do you think the future for our daughters is rosy? Do you consider yourself a feminist? And did you know even men can be feminists?

With Australia's Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, Governor General, Quentin Bryce, and even our wealthiest person Gina Rinehart, a woman, you might be forgiven for thinking that in Australia women have made it. After all they have come along way from 1890 when Margaret Ogg and Vida Goldstein were jeered for claiming women were clever enough to get into parliament.

While we celebrate our women who have broken through the glass ceiling, it's important not to lose sight of the fact the more needs to be done to improve the lot of Australian women. Believe me, this really affects you! Because in many areas, governments and businesses have dragged their heels.

Beginning this year, women for the first time received eighteen weeks paid maternity. Yet, back in 1998, 120 nations already provided paid maternity leave, many of them with a much lower GDP ranking than Australia. By 2008 Australia and America were the only two OECD countries that did not have paid parental leave. Why did we have to wait so long in Australia?

Childless couples in Australia who want to adopt an overseas baby or toddler typically have to wait up to five years while in other advanced nations, America for one, the timetable is closer to a year.

But something that affects nearly every Australian woman is the massive pay gap that exists in Australia between men and women which is now gaining heightened focus, culminating in Equal Pay Day on September 1.

Women working full-time, year-round in Australia are paid only 83 cents for every dollar earned by men. How does that motivate women? This pay inequity reveals systemic discrimination and continued under-valuation of women's work. If women were paid equally it would raise family income which would mean more money for food, housing, childcare and retirement.

What lower wages mean is less lifetime earnings for women giving them a lifetime of fewer choices. For women retiring today, the average superannuation payout is projected to be $150,000. That's half of the average payout to a man. If things don't change, the average 25 year old male will earn $2.4 million over the next forty years; for the average 25 year old female, that figure is just $1.5 million.

In your personal work situation you can sometimes be unaware of these discrepancies and injustices, but fortunately while the government isn't always quick to fix the problem, they and the United Nations do monitor gender gaps around the world to highlight the problems that do need addressing.

One such document is the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report on Gender Parity which looks at four indices: economic participation, education, health and political empowerment.

In 2010 Australia ranked 23rd - well behind Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and New Zealand who've held their top five positions for the last two years.

But - wait for it - five years ago we were ranked 16th. What that means is Australian women are worse off today than they were five years ago - while Australian men are better off.

In Australia, we have a strong and young female leader in Kate Ellis the Federal Minister for Employment Participation and Childcare and the Minister for the Status of Women who is passionate about many of the issues I am, and committed to change.

Interestingly, one look at news footage of women in federal parliament and you might think women are well represented. Indeed 35 women hold 24 per cent of the House of Representatives but this is down from 41 women (28 per cent) in the last parliament.

Today more Australian women (54.8%) graduate from Australian tertiary institutions than men. You may have hopes that in time this will have a major impact on the shape of our large organisations where today, only 3% of CEOs are women, 8% of Executive Senior management are women and 10% of Boadmembers are women. But consider this: in 1975 approximately 41% of people graduating from university were women - quite a large base really. So it's not just about numbers. It's about systemic problems of an economic, moralistic, cultural and power nature.

And this affects the opportunity advancement and reward of Australian women in every endeavour today and into the future.

I'm Maureen Frank. I specialise in gender diversity. I work with organisations to help men, women and their businesses become far more successful by embracing the value of gender diversity. At an individual level I help women and men transform their lives through practical guidance, skill development and motivation. Join me here and on womensvillage.com to find out more.