Tanya Dannock and Vanessa Vanderhoek have created Pallotella, a consulting business working with parents and their employers in the hope of banishing sexism and creating a cultural shift that raises the value of caring for children.

While Canberra is considered a progressive city in many arenas, Ms Dannock said the capital was behind when it came to cultural change.

The private sector often embraced change faster, bar a couple of departments.

"Canberra as a government town is probably well behind," Ms Dannock said.

"While there's a lot of talk and a little bit of work around the fringes, there's a lot more work to be done. I think that things are starting to move."

Ms Dannock, a birthing assistant and former public servant who spent two decades working in family and parenting policy, teamed up with Ms Vanderhoek, an executive career coach, and Pallotella was born.

The name was derived from the Finnish word for "to juggle", a nod to Scandinavia's more progressive workplace culture.

Ms Dannock said a large part of Pallotella's work was around cultural awareness training.

The duo ventured into offices addressing flexible work arrangements, gender equality and the retention of talented employees.

But it's not just about mothers. Fathers were an important part of the picture too, Ms Vanderhoek said.

"It's about supporting blokes and partners to have a more active role in their families [and] not being seen as babysitting their own children," she said.

"One wife [we know] earns double what her husband earns. She works flexibly, he doesn't. He said in his organisation there's great flexible working arrangements – lots of women take it up but he doesn't know one man who takes it."

Ms Dannock said prejudices facing women and men wanting to spend more time at home were part of a broader, outdated work culture affecting the whole community.

"We're not pitching this as just a women's issue; it's a societal issue," she said.

"The African proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child, it's actually about drawing on our workplace as part of our village."

The ultimate goal?

"For it to be a non-issue," Ms Dannock said. "I would like to be not talking about it."