The lack of women in senior roles at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) has been criticised by its own chief.

DFAT secretary Frances Adamson spoke about the role of women in national security at the Australian National University's National Security College this week.

Ms Adamson became the first woman to be appointed DFAT Secretary when she took the job in 2016.

She said there should be more like her, and that it is not acceptable that the Australian High Commission in London has never had a female Head of Mission in its 105-year history.

“It's not good enough that there are only two women ministers on the National Security Committee of Cabinet,” Ms Adamson said.

She said women appeared reticent to nominate themselves for promotion within DFAT.

“So many good women are waiting to be tapped on the shoulder and not putting themselves forward,” she said.

DFAT’s Women in Leadership strategy seeks to boost the proportion of women at senior levels, with measures like unconscious bias training for all managers and a target for women to fill 43 per cent of senior executive band one positions by 2020.

Ms Adamson said there was value in workplace gender targets across other industries.

“I didn't think I'd have to deal with targets, now I embrace it,” she said.

The secretary of the Attorney-General's Department (AGD), where 58 per cent of staff working in national security are women, spoke at the same event.

AGD secretary Chris Moraitis said women were particularly critical in the design of measures for the Countering Violent Extremism program.

“They [women] bring a perspective, otherwise absent,” he said.