From April 1, private sector employers with 500 or more employees will need to select three gender equality targets and report these to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).
Nearly 2000 workplaces will need to meet the new standards, with 3.9 million employees set to benefit.
Employers are required to choose three gender equality targets such as intentional action to cover the gender pay gap, workforce and board composition, support for carers and parents, consultation and sexual harassment prevention.
They will then have three years to achieve or make progress on their selected targets.
For construction company Clough, encouraging more women into the industry has guided their selection of the targets.
Clough operates across Australia delivering projects including Snowy 2.0 in NSW, the Waitsia Gas Project in Perth and the development of the Darwin Ship Lift.
The main focus of the company's targets will be around the composition of managers and encouraging more women into senior leadership roles, Clough executive president Marco Assorati told AAP.
"One of the issues across the (construction) industry is that even though there has been change in the number of women working in it, we need to have more women in management positions in order to achieve equity," he said.
"We want to strengthen leadership pathways for women, including mentoring and sponsorship so that we are sure they can succeed."
Clough will also focus on improving female representation in technical roles like engineering to reach gender equity in this field.
"There is always something more we can do and it's not something that happens overnight," Mr Assorati said.
"The commitment of the leadership at Clough is really important and it is embedded throughout the senior leadership team. When you have this mindset across the board then you start to see results."
While Australian workplaces have seen improvements in gender equality, WGEA chief executive Mary Wooldridge said progress had been slow.
"Even where significant gaps are identified, too many employers are not taking sustained action or monitoring progress that will make a difference," she said.
"Targets are designed to change that (and) the right targets for any organisation are data-informed and purpose-led.
"They rely on understanding the workforce data, identifying the key drivers of inequality in the organisation and committing to actions that will deliver real and lasting change."
True change in any organisation starts from the top, gender equity expert Ashley McGrath said.
As chief executive of CEOs for Gender Equity, Dr McGrath said dismantling gender barriers in the workplace benefited male and female employees.
"In Australia we have sometimes been relying on companies to take action because it's the right thing to do," she said.
"But what gets measured, gets managed and these mandated targets will give companies the incentive to put their money where their mouth is."
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