Tanya Plibersek argues that governments must be "brave and bold" if the gender pay gap is ever to be closed.
Addressing a Whitlam Institute conference on Monday, Labor's education spokeswoman and former deputy leader said the Whitlam government's reforms took years of hard detailed policy work.
"Much of it in the long cold years of opposition," she said.
She said while women are still be striving to close the gender pay gap, the first steps were taken when former Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam reopened the Equal Pay case.
Half a million female workers became eligible for full pay and women's wages overall rose by around 30 per cent.
"For the first time, under the Whitlam government, women became entitled to the minimum wage. For the first time, Commonwealth public servants became formally entitled to maternity leave," she said.
"It may be hard to imagine now, but these liberating policies were bold, brave and yes, a little controversial. But each of them had a real, practical, meaningful impact on the everyday lives of Australian women."
She said what seemed radical at the time, strikes as common sense today.
However, the last time the Australian government had a women's budget statement was in 2013 - the last time Labor was in power.
She said the gender pay gap remains stubbornly stuck at 14 per cent and the nation has dropped from 15 down to 39 on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap list.
"We must build on the achievements of our predecessors," she said.
"Gough taught us two great lessons. First, that governments must be brave and bold. Second, that governments must be practical and in touch with the daily needs of the people they seek to represent."
