According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, two thirds of people seeking work are women. There are
some 1.3 million women who are not working or seeking employment to join the work force.
The Western Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) believes getting more women into the workforce would help alleviate Western Australia's skills shortage, and has the potential to help the country.
CCI acknowledges workplaces must be more female-friendly and strategies are needed to address the 21st-century woman's many roles, responsibilities and expectations.
Doing so would make workplaces and their conditions more attractive to women, CCI's John Nicolaou.
"We are currently a workforce that works very hard and we need to ensure that there is a balance between working life and home or family life," he says.
Niclaou says employers also need to understand why 1.3 million women find it difficult to actively engage in the workforce.
"There may be a host of reasons behind that, and we need to understand that and then develop policy or business strategies which help address that."
Working from home via technological support, part-time or job-share positions, home and childcare services, undertaking rewarding jobs which do not involve excessive travel could all make employment more available to women.
