What is period poverty and how can Australians help

Period poverty is defined as a lack of access to menstrual products, hygiene facilities, waste management, and education, affecting many women globally causing physical, mental, and emotional challenges. The stigma that shrouds periods further prevents individuals from talking about it.1

Menstruating isn't a choice, but it comes with a price tag as period products cost money.2

For younger people, negative experiences of menstruating can lead to discomfort, distraction, absenteeism and even dropping out of school.3 School drop-outs have difficulty entering the job market and if they do, they find themselves in low pay jobs without security, predisposing them to economic and social poverty.4

Where to donate period products / sanitary products in Australia year-round

Want to donate period products all year long? There are some incredible organisations you might not know about that are working to get donations to those who need them. 

Take a look at The Red Pages to see where and with who you can donate.

You can also sign this campaign from The Greens to provide free pads and tampons to every Australian public primary and high school.

Foodbank Australia

Foodbank is Australia’s largest food relief organisation, operating on a scale that makes it crucial to the work of the front-line charities who are feeding vulnerable Australians. They ALWAYS need donations, find your local Foodbank and drop your donations in.

Find your local family violence or women’s shelter via Ask Izzy

These shelters provide safe and secure accommodation and specialist support for people escaping domestic and family violence. Ask Izzy is a website and app where you can find the details of local services. 

While they may not be able to give you their direct location due to privacy, if you contact these services and they will be able to point you in the right direction of where to drop your donations locally.

TSUNO

Donate a box of TSUNO products to one of the local charities they support. For every box donated, Tsuno will add one, doubling your donation and giving dignity to more people. With a range of charities to donate to, TSUNO sends them monthly, directly!

TABOO

TABOO's "Pad It Forward Program" allows you to purchase period products on behalf of someone else, for as little as $7 per month. These products are collected and distributed by TABOO to their charity partners all year round. These partners support people who are at risk of period poverty.

Kickstart for Kids against period poverty

Kickstart for Kids is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2009 by Ian Steel that helps disadvantaged school children in South Australia by providing 50,000 breakfasts and 10,000 lunches every week. Their aim is to raise $100,000 to help provide 25,000 packs of sanitary pads to over 2,000 young South Australian women to help manage their periods for 12 months.

Want to discover more?

Explore our database of everyone working towards menstrual equality in Australia.

Inclusivity note

Within this article, we may use the terms she, her, woman, girl or daughter. We understand that not all people with uteruses who are assigned female at birth menstruate, and not everyone who menstruates identifies as a female, girl or woman. For more information on this, please see our article about the importance of gender inclusivity when discussing periods and menstruation.

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