ACT Assembly to pass bill for free period products in Australian first

The ACT will be the first Australian jurisdiction to pass legislation and other governments are being strongly urged to follow suit.

Period products will be available in places including libraries, hospitals, schools and community facilities within six months.

The territory's legislation has followed Scotland, which was the first nation in the world to make period products free in 2020.

Labor backbencher Suzanne Orr, who introduced the legislation, said she based her bill on the Scotland model but there have been changes, including the inclusion of community services and hospitals as places to access the products.

"We wanted to make sure that we were getting to all the places where we know there's going to be real demand and where we know we're going to be funding people who need this," she said.

Ms Orr also said the ACT would require information to be available around how to manage periods and this would be available in multiple languages.

The bill does not go into detail about how the places need to provide the products, for example whether it would be available in a school office or in a vending machine.

"Those places have to provide products and we haven't gone into a lot of detail as to the mechanisms for doing that," Ms Orr said.

"The reason we haven't been prescriptive is because we actually just want the best way to get products for that provider to the person who needs them."

The bill is targeted at those experiencing period poverty but people won't be required to do an income means test when accessing products.

"We don't want people to have to go in and prove they need the products simply asking for them is enough," Ms Orr said.

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A survey from Share the Dignity, a charity that helps people experiencing period poverty, found about 15 per cent of respondents in the ACT had struggled to afford period products at some point in their life.

Ms Orr said this may even be an underestimate of the true number of Canberrans experiencing period poverty. She said there were also access problems beyond the cost of period products, such as cultural reasons and a lack of community education about periods.

"People look at Canberra and think we're quite an affluent community and don't always appreciate that there's some people within our community who really do it tough and not just for economic reasons," she said.

"There's a lot of cultural reasons as well and women who may have grown up and their mother wasn't around and because of the way we've gendered discussions on periods within our community. Their dads can't tell them what to do, the dads have never been taught."

Share the Dignity founder and managing director Rochelle Courtenay welcomed the ACT's bill and urged other jurisdictions to follow suit.

"After working tirelessly to end period poverty in Australia for the last eight years it is incredibly to see this bill, the first of its kind in Australia, be passed in the ACT," Ms Courtenay said.

"No one should have to make do with toilet paper, socks or newspaper for their period and this legislation will ensure women, girls and those who menstruate won't have to.

"I hope to see more states and territories follow in the ACT's footsteps so we can ensure menstrual equity for all menstruating Australians."

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