The first challenge we need to tackle in order to create more flexible work practices in Australia is a couple of cliché's which are holding us back.

I realised early on, that if I was to be effective in this role I would need to tackle these clichés, and work proactively to place gender equality firmly back on the national agenda.

The first attitude we need to tackle is the notion that gender equality is somehow a battle of the sexes, an eternal tussel for supremacy rather than an attempt to create a more workable, more productive society for everyone.

The second attitude against which we need to struggle is the notion that flexible work practices are somehow a women's issue, and limit our discussions to maternity leave and looking after small children.

I soon discovered the best way to get equality back on the agenda, and respond to such clichés was to focus on proactive rather than reactive policy development.

Attitudes regarding flexible work practices are deeply entrenched, and often very strongly held. To overturn them we need to begin, not by challenging them on their own terms but by challenging their underlying drivers, otherwise the result will be merely rhetorical.

In many examples I've come across since coming into this role, and previously, the rhetoric expressed by companies and organisations regarding flexible work practices, is quite different from the reality..

While senior management will say it is committed to flexible work practices, the value placed on part time workers and part time roles is low, and the positions effectively become career killers. People taking on part time work, for whatever reason are not seen as committed to the job, and are effectively deskilled, by not being provided with challenges commensurate with their education or experience.

I've also seen some very effective flexible work arrangements, from job sharing through to permanent part time managerial roles, and at the heart of all these arrangements was a high level of reciprocity and trust.

There is also a need for senior management, and for people in public life to actually model flexible work practices, if they are going to be picked up by the broader community. This means making productive, but family friendly workplaces. This means senior managers being seen to adopt more healthy and sustainable modes of work - rather than putting in excessive, and ultimately unproductive time at the office.

Work place flexibility is about looking for different models of success, rather than creating roles only for individuals, apparently with no extraneous caring responsibilities, who can provide a 24/7 commitment to their paid work.

In many respects we are working the same way we did 200 years ago, despite dramatic changes in the economic climate and available technology. We need to discover what work looks like in 2008, rather than repeating the mistakes of the past, and now is as good a time as any to begin that journey.

Elizabeth Broderick is Sex Discrimination Commissioner and Commissioner responsible for Age Discrimination, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.