"Visibility is so important because if you don't see people in those positions, then you don't actually know that it's a possibility," Dower told the ABC.

"The visibility [of women] in my early days was the mums in the tuckshop.

"If you look in the last five years, the huge leaps forward we've made is amazing compared to [when I started] 44 years ago.

"But because we've made giant steps forward we can stop and reflect on that and say, 'That's great, but wouldn't it be nice if we could take that next leap forward,' because I think what we all want is that true equality and until we really get that, there's going to be lots of dripping taps, the agitation will continue."

Polkinghorne added that hosting the tournament would be a huge advantage for the Matildas, after her own experiences playing in front of 'screaming' fans.

"It [would] be massive," Polkinghorne said.

"Every time I think about what it would mean to have the World Cup in Australia I think back to the Rio Olympics where we played Brazil in front of 66,000 screaming Brazilian fans.

"Just being in such a hostile environment, not having the support of the crowd, and the impact that they [fans] can have on the game.

"If they were Aussie supporters, I could just imagine the lift that it would give you as a player.