The federal cabinet approved on Monday frontline combat duty for Australian women. Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the change had strong support from the chief of the Defence Force.

"If a woman is capable of doing the entrance program for the SAS or the entrance program for commandos, then they'll be in it.... This will remove any restriction," The Telegraph quoted Mr Smith.

With the new policy, 93 per cent of positions in the Australian Defence Force are now open to women, while the other 7 per cent remains closed. These are the positions mine disposal divers, air force defense guards, and infantry and artillery frontline positions.

Mr Smith, who said the remaining 7 per cent remain off-limit to women because of their gender, promised to removed the discrimination in the next five years in a careful and methodical manner. He explained the five-year implementation period to being on the side of caution rather than risk mistakes by hasty changes which involve significant and major cultural change.

"Now all of the roles on the front line will be determined on the basis of merit, not on the basis of sex," Mr Smith added.

The new policy, which would eventually end the Defence Force's exemption from the country's Sex Discrimination Act, would make Australia the fourth country to remove frontline combat restrictions on females after Canada, New Zealand and Israel.

It would also allow Australia to full meet obligations under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.