It’s a long awaited reform, but after 18 years a decision has finally been made for the better.
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No longer will Australian women need to pay GST on tampons and sanitary pads – at least when January 1 rolls around.
There’s still a few months to go.
The decision to abolish the current tax on feminine hygiene products was finally agreed on by all states and territories after an 18-year public campaign which began all those years ago when the GST was first introduced.
The extra 10 per cent that women currently pay on the necessary hygiene products has been labelled as unfair since the day GST was first applied in 2000.
Imposing the tax means that tampons, pads and reusable hygiene products were all classified as luxury items – they aren’t. The idea they are luxury rather than a necessity is preposterous.
The tax impost on sanitary items – which also extends to menstrual cups, maternity pads and leak-proof underwear – was always a hot topic because men's products like condoms and Viagra are exempt.
Whoever originally decided that GST should be imposed on female hygiene products clearly didn’t agree with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who described the unanimous agreement as “a bit of common sense.”
We are still unsure of why ‘common sense’ wasn’t playing a part 18 years ago when condoms, Viagra (used by men), as well as sunscreen and nicotine patches, were put on the ‘tax exempt’ list and tampons and sanitary pads had the 10 per cent added.
Back in 1999 when the GST laws were written, they were clearly drafted by mostly male public servants, reporting to a male-dominated cabinet, in an overwhelmingly male parliament.
The male-to-female ratio has changed somewhat in the past 18 years as well.
Pads and tampons are not luxury items, a woman having her period each month is not a luxury. It is not something women can control, and not something that should have been taxed in the first place.
Because that’s what happened. By putting a tax on these products, the government put a tax on women’s periods.
That 10 per cent costs Australian women around $30 million a year, and this decision has now saved the typical woman around $1000 over her lifetime.
We just have to wait a couple more months.
