Liberal Party federal president Richard Alston is open to the idea of setting targets to boost the number of women MPs among its ranks.
The party is coming under increasing pressure over its gender diversity as Labor aims for 50 per cent female representation within ten years.
Mr Alston says the federal executive set up a special committee earlier this year to look at the issue of women's representation and identify problems.
"We'll have a look at the idea of setting targets and we'll see where we go from there," he told AAP, adding that he expects a report to be ready by the end of the year.
He doesn't believe the low numbers of women in the party's ranks is a result of any overt discrimination, and staunchly opposes quotas.
Asked if he agreed with Liberal MP Sharman Stone that the focus on meritocracy was failing to achieve results, Mr Alston said there wasn't the same level of enthusiasm among women about entering parliament.
"There are some very valid reasons why women aren't MPs, they've got kids to look after for example or they don't like the culture of Canberra," he said.
Mr Alston defended the party's 2014 decision to preselect Tim Smith, a 30-year-old former suburban mayor for the blue ribbon Victorian seat of Kew, over then-Napthine government cabinet minister Mary Wooldridge, whose seat disappeared when electoral boundaries were redrawn.
"The kid that won it had been working that seat for two years, he'd been to every branch meeting and knew all the delegates," Mr Alston said.
"Mary Wooldridge turned up at five minutes to midnight."
A review undertaken by the party's Victorian branch found women wanting to stand for preselection were asked about details of their marital status and family life, including who would cook their family meals, while male candidates were not.
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