One woman in Abbott's boys club

Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott has come under fire over the lack of women in his cabinet. Source: AAP

LABOR has mocked Tony Abbott's new cabinet saying Afghanistan has better female representation.

Prime Minister-elect Mr Abbott unveiled his ministerial line up on Monday, revealing the only woman in his cabinet is Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop.

Acting Labor leader Chris Bowen called it a sad day for the nation, Liberal senator Sue Boyce says the embarrassing omission will tarnish the coalition victory, and the Women's Electoral Lobby said Australia had gone backwards.

Mr Abbott said he was "disappointed" adding there were talented women "knocking on the door" of the cabinet and ministry.

That door would be opened "as time goes by", he said.

"If Sophie Mirabella had been clearly ahead in Indi, Sophie would be in the cabinet," he told reporters in Canberra.

"So plainly, I am disappointed that there are not at least two women in the cabinet."

Mr Bowen said Australian had gone backwards.

"The cabinet of Afghanistan now has more women (three) in it," Mr Bowen said.

There was a record six women appointed to cabinet after Kevin Rudd took over in July, in a move that some speculated was aimed at countering negative reaction over his knifing of Australia's first female prime minister Julia Gillard.

One of them, outgoing families minister Jenny Macklin said they didn't just deal with women's issues.

"We made cabinet more representative of the Australian population we were there to govern," she told the Guardian Australia website.

Senator Boyce, who retires when her term expires next July, said the lack of women in cabinet was a systemic problem for the Liberal Party and should be a wake up call.

"It's a shame that this shocking and embarrassing statistic will permanently tarnish a wonderful victory," she said in a statement.

Women's Electoral Lobby chair Melanie Fernandez told AAP it was disappointing that government was again a "boys club".

"Good diversity of representation ... means a better discussion and better policies being put in place," Ms Fernandez said.

"It's not an equal playing field."

She urged the coalition to introduced quotas for women in its party preselection processes.

Former Liberal Senator Judith Troeth said the coalition boasts women capable and suitable for promotion to the federal cabinet.

"Over the years we've had a number of good, talented women," she told the ABC.

But Ms Troeth, who was a senator for 18 years, spoke of a stigma that she believes impacts on the rise of women.

"I think men have an innate fear of capable women at that level, not telling them what to so, but certainly putting their views forward ... I still think men like to run the show."

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