A new initiative from the federal government is highlighting many of the ways that Australia is falling short.
The Status of Women Report Card draws on data in areas including education, economic outcomes, health and safety and wellbeing.
Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher has told the ABC the scorecard highlights the many challenges faced by women and girls.
"For many Australians, like, some of these statistics aren't well-known, and I really wanted to, I guess, put front and centre, as we're doing our work trying to progress gender equality, what some of the areas are that we need to focus on. And, certainly, areas like sexual harassment, family, domestic and sexual violence, are really fundamental issues that we have to crack, we have to reduce the level of violence and harassment against women and children in this country or we're never going to have a gender-equal Australia, which is something that I think most Australians would want to see."
Among the statistics in the report card is that one in two women have experienced sexual harassment in their lifetimes - twice as many as men.
Women also still do the lion's share of unpaid housework, even if they are the primary breadwinner - at 24.1 hours compared to 19.1 hours for men.
The scorecard also shows that women aged over 55 are the fastest growing group of homeless people in Australia.
Anglicare Australia's recent rental affordability snapshot showed that single women on the age pension can afford less than one percent of rental listings across the country.
The organisation's Executive Director Kasy Chambers says more investment in social housing is urgently needed.
"There's no reason for this. Every woman should have a safe and affordable home. The housing crisis is hitting deep. It is hurting women more than others. We are short in Australia by about 500,000 dwellings - that's for social and affordable housing. That means we really need to be building about 25-000 social and affordable houses every year. "
The Status of Women Report Card also highlights the economic disparity faced by women.
