I think in the background at all times when I was the Clerk was an effort to get to greater gender parity right across the range of appointments and communities within the reach of the federal government. It was always an issue or a driver to see if we could bend the curve, to use a phrase, towards greater gender parity.
However, specific recommendations regarding who to put into what position always come from a minister. In the case of diplomats, they come from the foreign affairs minister. In the case of judges, they come from the justice minister. In the case of military staff, they come from the Minister of Defence.