"We are still in the midst of inequality because we lack a national grip of and control over gender equality policy," Social Democrat Equality Minister Åsa Regnér said when announcing the plans to create the agency.
With several Swedish cities vying to host the new body, citing their research and experience in the field of gender equality, Sweden's second largest city of Gothenburg, which is already home to the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research was announced as the winner.
The new authority is expected to have a relatively "modest" workforce of 75-90 employees and is due to launch in January 2018, the Swedish daily Göteborgs-Posten reported.
At present, Sweden already has the Equality Ombudsman, which is a government agency tasked with supervising the laws relating to discrimination on sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other beliefs, disability, sexual orientation or age.
The idea of creating yet another government body with a similar agenda stirred criticism across Sweden.
"I do not think we need any further equality body. All we get is another opinion-making authority with an unclear program," Jonas Ransgård of the Conservative Party argued.
"It requires the right kind of policy to break down the huge inequality and the great alienation that many women live in. The new authority will not help the women," Elisabeth Svantesson told the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter.
The Swedish government also came under fire from Bo Rothstein, a professor of political science, for failing to address gender-related problems in earnest and instead engaging in "symbolic politics."
