I see the term "mate" as a prominently Aussie term . I do hear males call females that in a work environment at time . I see it in that situation as one person wanting to treat the other as equal and not to focus on their gender , but their role , in what used to be a male dominated industry . In social circles I hear it much less often , but do on occasions . I've never seen a female arc up about being called "mate" . Would I ever call a female "mate" ? ...not in 1,000,000 years would I ever do that , but that's just me . If I have the time to say mate , I also have the time to say your name , if I don't know your name I can read it on your shirt ( which we in the mining industry insist on doing to ourselves these days ) so no "mate" required .