"(He said) 'You're pathetic. You're going to be smashed in this election. What would a nurse know about running the country?'," Dr Haines recalled.

"I walked up the steps and asked him his name, and he wouldn't tell me.

"So I asked him what he knew about me, and he said he knew enough.

"But it left me thinking, what did that man actually know about me and my skills?

"Did he know that in my 20s I'd run a little hospital and turned its profits around? Did he know that I'd completed three university degrees when I had little children?

"He really didn't know what I was capable of, and I can forgive him for that, because what he sees in the Parliament doesn't look like me."

Dr Haines, addressing a Zonta Club of Albury-Wodonga International Women's Day event, said her skills were exactly what was needed coming into the 46^th Parliament.

The first independent to succeed another said her nursing background had aided her ability to sit with grieving bushfire victims, keep calm under pressure, and now, to work on a review into workplace culture in Parliament.

"I know that it's stood me in good stead when I'm speaking in Parliament against the government, or against a powerful interest group, knowing that I'm going to get blow-back," she said.

"I've used my time in Parliament to speak out, to challenge the status quo.

"The alleged rape of Brittany Higgins right in the heart of our Parliament and the fact that three other women subsequently came forward with allegations against the same individual is completely shocking.

"My experience in the university sector, where there were also major problems with gender violence, gave me a good reference point for this.

"I've been pleased to work closely with my cross-bench colleagues and Senator (Simon) Birmingham to establish the terms of reference for an independent, arm's length review now undertaken by Kate Jenkins.

"And in fact, when those terms of reference were announced on Friday, I was still text messaging Simon Birmingham 10 minutes before he went on to stage ... still not quite happy with a few points."

Dr Haines, ahead of Friday's 100th anniversary of Edith Cowan being the first Australian woman to enter Parliament, said women "remained significantly underrepresented in decision-making".

"Most particularly, in the parliaments of world with men holding three-quarters of all parliamentary seats," she said.

"Women are heads of state and government in only 21 countries worldwide, but their leadership in those countries has been lauded for its greater effectiveness in managing the COVID-19 health crisis ... (and) the transparent, high-integrity and incredibly compassionate way they've gone about it.

"The leadership styles of women leaders in the COVID-19 response have been described as more collective than individual.

"Prior to the pandemic, a global survey was undertaken and nearly half of the world's population, 47 per cent, believed that men made better political leaders than women.

"I wonder what they say now?"

Dr Haines said that when there was still a 14 per cent gender pay gap in this country, strong women and men had to step up.

"This International Women's Day, we've been given the challenge to 'choose to challenge'. We have to see it, so we can be it," she said.

"We need to challenge the way things are done.

"Choosing to challenge is not something that politicians only do, it's something that we can all do.

"It's also why the work of groups like Zonta is so critical ... I've seen with my own eyes, when I was working in Ethiopia ... those birthing kits, and I know the difference that they make."

IN OTHER NEWS:

Zonta Club of Albury-Wodonga president Sue Hinton said Zonta's most recent work had involved supporting humanitarian work in Congo, ensuring women in need had clothes, and developing a video for women to understand the court system.

"We're not just talking about equal rights and opportunities for women - we are talking about true, human equality," she said.

"We're talking about a world where gender should be irrelevant.

"It can happen, and it will."