Female traffic lights to promote gender equality in Australia

New traffic signals designed to equal the gender balance guide pedestrians across Swanston Street near Flinders Street railway station in Melbourne, on March 8, 2017. - AFP

Melbourne (AFP) - Pedestrian traffic lights showing female figures rather than male have been installed in Melbourne to reduce "unconscious bias" and promote gender equality, officials said on International Women's Day on Wednesday.

Ten stop/go lights depicting a figure in a dress were switched on at one of the city's busiest intersections, though some questioned the point of the 12-month trial.