That sobering statistic is something Wendouree MP Juliana Addison is determined to see the end of and a program in just its fifth year is providing just the opportunity for that to happen.

The Pathways to Politics program is a course being run by the University of Melbourne for women keen to enter politics.

Ms Addison is a past alumni of the program, having completed it in 2017 before being elected as the Wendouree MP in 2018.

"I was always interested in issues, all the way back to school, for me it was always about social justice and inequality in society," Ms Addison said.

"As a young woman I was always standing up for myself. I played on the boys' football team, I put my hand up and played cricket, when I was 10 I responded to a job advertisement for 'paper boys', why couldn't it be 'paper girls?'

"This real desire and quest for equality had made me very political from a very young age."

Ms Addison said the pathway program gave confidence to women wanting to enter public office and seeing them succeed in what can be at times "bruising pre-selection battles".

"What Pathways to Politics is about is encouraging women who aren't necessarily party political who come from all walks of life and would like to make a contribution and have a say.

"It gives them the skills, and really, the confidence to stand for public office.

"I certainly went through a tough pre-selection to become the Labor party candidate."

Ms Addison said politics was about debating ideas and being open to criticism.

"If you are going to say, 'I want to represent you and these are my beliefs' you have to be prepared to defend your position and sometimes that can be pretty tough," she said.

"That is why I think some women are deterred, it's very robust.

"Politics is a clash of ideas and can be tough, you've got to have a strong sense of self belief, self worth and confidence to enter the arena and say you have something to offer here and promote and defend your beliefs."

Ms Addison said the program was open to all women of all political persuasions.

"It's based on the Harvard program which provides the support for women to one day reach the presidency of the United States," she said.

"There is a brilliant woman named Carol Schwartz AO who has worked with Harvard and realised that all of the issues they have in American involving women in politics can be translated to Australia.

"She approached the University of Melbourne and said, this is what Harvard does, why don't we offer this.

"The real number one priority issue is to increase levels of participation at all levels of government to really make sure that our governments are representative of the make-up of our community.

"If you keep electing the same type of people, you will always get the same outcomes."

Ms Schwartz said she felt strongly that parliament should be 50-50.

"Women experience and interact with the world differently to men. That experience and that perspective shapes the way a person contributes to leadership.

Equal representation would shape culture, decision making, collaboration, and ultimately reflect community issues in a more fulsome way."

"From launching the pilot program in 2015 to the program's expansion today, it is deeply gratifying to see its impact supporting women who aspire to ascend into political leadership and better support their community."

The next Pathway to Politics program is taking applications from February 28.

It will support another 30 Victorian women to get the skills and knowledge they need to run for public office.

The program requires just one night a week over a two months period and is entirely funded. While the program involves reading, and an eventual speech to Victoria's parliament, it is not an assessed program and is designed for women who may be time poor with children or work commitments.

To learn more about the program, go to government.unimelb.edu.au/engagement/pathways-to-politics-program-for-women

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