Women play a key role in the Liberal Party, and have an equal number of elected positions with men at most levels of the Party. The Liberal Women's Council exists to provide an additional forum for women to participate in Liberal politics, and has an extensive program of activities. All women who join the Party can participate in the activities of the Liberal Women's Council.

The Liberal Women's Council plays a vital role in the organisation. There are 42 Women's Sections throughout Victoria, which hold regular meetings to discuss various political issues, and to hear addresses by guest parliamentarians. Delegates from each Section attend a monthly Central Council meeting, at which high-profile speakers discuss relevant political issues, as well as hear reports on the activities of the Federal and State parliamentary wings.

Through its financial and logistical support, the Liberal Women's Council plays a crucial role in the Liberal Party's election campaigns.

The Liberal Women's Council is the modern expression of a great tradition of political participation by women on the Liberal side of politics. Liberal women were pioneers of political participation by women in Australia, and almost all the first women members of parliament at State and Federal levels were from Liberal parties.

Historically the key role of women in the Party is due in large part to the influence of the Australian Women's National League (AWNL) in the Party's formation. Formed in 1904, the AWNL was one of the largest and best-organised political groups in the nation. By 1914 it had over 400 branches throughout Victoria and over 50,000 members. It was a strong supporter of the first national Liberal Party (formed in 1910), and later of the Nationalist and then the United Australia Parties that were formed by these early Liberals to win the Great War and get Australia out of the Depression of the 1930s.

In return for the support of their membership under the leadership of Elizabeth Couchman, the AWNL obtained two key undertakings from Robert Menzies: there were to be equal numbers of men and women for most elected positions within the Liberal Party, and that the AWNL effectively continue within the new party's structure as the Women's Section (now known as the Liberal Women's Council Victoria). The AWNL’s extensive branch structure became the basis for that of the Liberal Party in Victoria, and the Victorian Division's Constitution guarantees equality of representation within the Party organisation, from the branch level through to the senior executive. Each branch has both a male and female vice president.

The importance of women in the Party was illustrated when Mrs Joy Mein O.B.E. became the Liberal Party's first female president in 1976, with the Young Liberal Movement electing its first female president, Louise Asher, in 1980.

Women in the Liberal Party have also been trailblazers in terms of parliamentary representation. UAP member Dame Enid Lyons, who entered parliament in 1943, was the first woman elected to the House of Representatives. She was re-elected as a member of the Liberal Party after its formation and became the first woman to serve in Federal Cabinet when she was appointed Vice President of the Executive Council. Dame Annabelle Rankin was the first woman to administer a federal department when she became Minister for Housing in 1966. In 1975, Margaret Guilfoyle became the first woman Cabinet Minister with portfolio when she was sworn in as Minister for Social Security.