The founder of an advocacy group fighting against period poverty says public toilets should offer period care.
Share The Dignity founder Rochelle Courtenay says the increased cost-of-living has exacerbated issues of period inequality.
“The problem is a lot greater than it was when we surveyed 125,000 respondents in 2021, where one in five had been through period poverty,” she says.
The Australian Building Codes Board is investigating how the National Construction Code can make period product dispensers in public bathrooms a requirement.
The board’s chief executive Gary Rake says easy access to period care can have real impact on people’s lives.
“This is because lack of access to sanitary items can impact women’s lives, affecting both their physical and mental health, as well as limiting their participation in education, employment opportunities, and social activities,” he says.
If the change is passed, how this requirement is implemented would be up to building companies and developers, meaning the products may have a price tag.
Analysis by the Australian Building Codes Board shows the average cost of a dispenser is $104.53, ranging from prices as low as $50 to more than $1000, not including the cost of restocking products.
Mr Rake says he predicts companies will make the period products free.
“We don’t expect to have to pay for hand soap or toilet paper when we use the bathroom,” he says.
The change will be up for public consultation from May to the start of July as part of proposed changes to the National Construction Code.
Registered nurse and founder of the podcast Let’s Talk, Period Isabella Gosling says the change is possible but she has concerns about funding.
“I think it could be feasible, however, I feel as though there will be questions around who is to pay for sourcing these products and keeping them stocked,” she says.
Currently, there are almost 1000 Share The Dignity vending machines across the nation dispensing a free period pack of six tampons and two pads.
According to Mrs Courtenay, the machines cost approximately $10,000 for the first year and $5,000 each year after that.
Chief executive of low-cost women’s healthcare organisation Luma, Felicite Black, says period products are a need not a want and should be free.
“It’s a small cost in the scheme of things for a large social impact,” she says.
“A vending machine is not any more cost than hand washing equipment that you would put into a facility.”
In 2020, Scotland became the first country in the world to make period products free.
Laura Rankine is a 21-year-old business and marketing student, and a co-founder of Group Chat Marketing in Perth.
She says sanitary products in public bathrooms would relieve a lot of the stress associated with getting a period.
“I’m always at the gym or moving around and for work I go to different places for meetings,” she says.
“I just really think it would eliminate some of the stress because you don’t always remember to bring stuff around.”
Categories: Cost of Living, Feature Slider, General, Health, News Writing and Reporting, Women