Australia's largest defence companies are failing to attract and retain female staff, with research finding workplace sexism and discrimination is persistent in some sections of the multi-billion-dollar industry.
An analysis of the country's 20 largest military firms finds just one in five workers are women, compared to the national workplace average of around half.
Further to this, just over one in seven managers in the defence sector are women, compared to the national average of about a third.
The report, conducted by Canberra-based consultancy Rapid Context, found women were also leaving their defence industry jobs at disproportionately high rates compared to their male counterparts.
Sexism, sexual harassment and gender bias are some of the reasons for the high attrition rates, according to the research obtained by the ABC.
"Despite efforts to recruit female staff, discrimination and sexism persist in sections of the defence industry and it negatively affects women's experience at work," the study finds.
The study said better retention rates of female workers was needed to combat skills shortages in the defence industry and to grow its future workforce.
Over the next decade the Federal Government intends to invest more than $200 billion dollars in defence capability, and the report warns the industry will "need a renewed focus on attracting and retaining highly skilled staff".
"Failure to identify and address the reasons women leave the defence industry puts at risk the industry's ability to take advantage of growth opportunities and deliver Australia's defence capability," it concludes.
The study, titled "Growing the Defence Industry Workforce: Attracting and Retaining Women with Critical Skills and Trades", will be launched at Federal Parliament on Thursday.
