Shorten pledges female governor-general

Bill Shorten says there are "dozens and dozens" of Australian women who would make an exceptional governor-general, vowing that the next vice-regal appointment under a Labor government would be a woman.

So far, the only woman to have served as governor-general is Dame Quentin Bryce, Mr Shorten's mother-in-law, who was appointed by the Rudd Labor government in 2008.

She was succeeded by former defence chief Sir Peter Cosgrove while another retired general, David Hurley, takes over the position in June.

The opposition leader says his government would honour Mr Hurley's appointment "but I think that the next governor-general after that should be a woman".

"I mean, there are dozens and dozens of candidates."

Federal Labor's promise to appoint a woman governor-general is among a raft of changes it has vowed to implement to "share power" between men and women if the party wins the May election.

Mr Shorten says Labor wants to achieve the equal treatment of women, which he said would make Australia "the richest, most successful country on the planet".

"I don't buy that Scott Morrison argument that the only way women should get ahead is if it's not at the expense of a man," he told reporters in Melbourne on Sunday.

"I put it a different way: For the last 120 years, why have so many good women missed out and men been appointed instead?"

Mr Shorten plans to ensure women make up half of all government board appointees and introduce gender-neutral applications so employers do not known an applicant's gender before their interview.

Labor will also change the Fair Work Act to address the valuation of work in industries dominated by women, such as child care and aged care, and move to help superannuation be paid to workers while they're on parental leave.

"Treating women equally is a great economic strategy," he added.