Dismantling barriers: ACT ‘leading the nation’ in fight to end period poverty

Free period product dispensers will be installed in student-friendly locations in participating ACT public schools, including in girls’, gender-neutral and accessible bathrooms.

The dispensers will make pads available in primary schools, and pads and tampons in high schools, P–10 schools, and colleges.

Minister for Women, Dr Marisa Paterson, said the pilot program was part of the Government’s commitment to improving gender equity and student wellbeing in the ACT.

“The ACT is leading the nation in the fight to end period poverty,” Paterson said.

“It’s unacceptable that menstruation should ever be a barrier to full participation in school life.

“By installing free dispensers in school bathrooms, we ensure students can access period products with dignity and confidence.

“This means they can focus on their education and extracurricular activities without unnecessary obstacles.”

Period poverty is a lack of access to menstrual products, hygiene facilities, waste management, and education. An awareness campaign in schools, consisting of posters and educational materials, will let students know about the changes and will also help to break down unhelpful stigmas that exist about menstruation.

To progress the broader rollout across all ACT public schools, the Government will collect feedback from students and staff at participating schools, as well as product usage data.

In addition to schools, the pilot program will also include Canberra Hospital, University of Canberra Hospital, Community Health Centres and Walk-in Centres.

“The rollout of this pilot program is a vital step in dismantling the barriers that menstruating people face every day. Access to pads and tampons should never be a privilege; it is a basic necessity,” Paterson said.

Despite progress in period technology and public discourse, period poverty is still rife across Australia.

In 2023, then Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace, third from right, visited Mackay State High School to celebrate the more than 100,000 free period product packs that had been distributed to schools across the state via vending machines installed from 2022. 

National charity Share the Dignity’s 2024 Bloody Big Survey, which canvassed the opinions of 153,000 people, found that 64 per cent of menstruators have struggled to afford period products, with even higher rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (83 per cent), those with disabilities or chronic conditions (78 per cent), and the gender-diverse community (83 per cent). 

In rural areas, 24.3 per cent of those who menstruate had to improvise on period products due to cost, and 18.7 per cent in urban areas. This included using items like toilet paper, socks, and pieces of spare cloth.

Tasmania has the worst rate of period poverty in the country with about 10 per cent of people who menstruate unable to afford period products in in 2024. 

Across the country, 74 per cent of people in rural areas have had difficulty buying period products. 

Share the Dignity has successfully advocated for period products to be provided in public high schools, but said this needs to include primary schools, TAFE and university.

The ACT is the first jurisdiction in Australia to introduce legislation guaranteeing access to free period products for students, following the passage of the Period Products and Facilities (Access) Act 2023.

The new law requires that schools provide these products in a way that upholds students’ dignity and privacy.

ACT Minister for Education and Early Childhood, Yvette Berry, said students should have the opportunity to get the most out of their educational experiences and not miss out on important learning.

“We never want to see students avoiding certain activities because they don’t have access to period products, whether that be because they forgot to bring them to school or can’t afford to purchase them,” Berry said.

“Expanding free period products with new dispensers ... is a significant step towards the ACT Government’s goal to end period poverty in our community.”

Fellow minister Suzanne Orr, who holds a number of portfolios, including Disability, Carers and Community Services, said broader school-based access through dispensers ensures no one is held back from learning, working, or living fully because they don’t have access to basic essentials.

“Period poverty is a stigmatised and deeply impactful issue – I’m proud the ACT continues to lead nationally in responding with empathy, dignity, and practical action,” she said.

Last year Victoria committed to installing period product vending machines in up to 700 locations across the state.

In Queensland, the first Dignity Vending Machines were installed in schools in 2022, in partnership with Share the Dignity.

Originally promised for 120 schools, over six years the then Labor Government spent more than $35 million to instal, maintain, and stock the vending machines in all public schools that required one.

Research co-authored by Victoria University released earlier this year confirmed that most Australian girls and women opt out of playing sport when they have their period, prompting calls for free sanitary products to be available at sporting facilities as well.