Gender equality won't be achieved until men take on more caring responsibilities, but workplaces are not set up to embrace shared caring.
A coalition of more than 250 chief executives and leaders is calling for redesigned workplaces that accommodate caring responsibilities for all, launching a resource on Thursday to show employers what they should do differently.
"When men can share care, women have greater scope to work, earn and lead," Champions of Change Coalition founder Elizabeth Broderick told AAP.
"Employers gain access to more of the talent already in their organisations. It also gives men much more fulfilling and healthy lives and a deeper connection to their children."
While flexible work and parental leave have progressed in recent years, care-related barriers are affecting participation, progression and economic outcomes.
Women remain under-represented in leadership, are still retiring with less superannuation than men and the gender pay gap persists.
On average, women do about nine hours more of unpaid care work each week than men, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
Ms Broderick recalled the moment an employer first allowed her to care for her mother.
"When my mother was dying 25 years ago, the law firm I worked for told me to take as much time as I needed," she said.
"In one of the hardest moments of my life, they showed me that caring mattered and they earned a loyalty and commitment that no pay rise could ever buy."
Business leaders gathered in Sydney on Wednesday to launch the resource, with Governor-General Sam Mostyn, an advocate for gender equality, sharing her insights.
"As long as we think care is a soft word, a feminine word ... it's no surprise the majority of unpaid care is picked up by women," she said.
"Care in its purest form is very hard. There is a real hardness to having to deliver care consistently.
"Care in the future should not be seen as the soft thing or the feminine thing."
ING Bank chief executive Melanie Evans said parental leave policies needed action including encouraging workers to take leave, and normalising caring in conversations with staff.
"I actually start off by explaining to everyone that my number one priority in life are my children and my family," she said.
"No leader I ever worked for in banking or funds management said that explicitly to me.
"I do think senior leaders still being very open about their caring responsibilities is really important."
Mirvac property group chief executive Campbell Hanan said when people were provided flexibility at work, they worked harder.
"It begins with trust and just breaking any bias that you may have," he said.
The resource outlines five key shifts with actions for organisations, including recognising caring as visible and valued, and that careers move with life.
Additional actions include factoring caring into how teams work together, that everyone participates in and benefits from caring, and recognising that flexibility and autonomy can drive performance.
