EMILY’s List Australia welcomes yesterday’s announcement that a Shorten Labor government will remove the “tampon tax”, the unfair and discriminatory application of the Goods and Services Tax for luxury items to menstrual products which are necessary for health and hygiene.
We congratulate EMILY’s List Australia members Tanya Plibersek, Leader of the Opposition, Catherine King, Shadow Minister for Health and Medicare, Sharon Claydon, Member for Newcastle, and Emma Husar, member for Lindsay, who advocated for this change.
Australian women spend approximately $300 million on menstrual products such as tampons and pads each year. Axing the tampon tax will save Australian women approximately $30 million each year, and place menstrual products in the same category as other GST-exempt items such as incontinence pads, sunscreen, nicotine patches and Viagra.
EMILY’s List Australia calls on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Coalition government to match this commitment in next month’s budget and remove this form of gender based discrimination.
We also urge the Australian Labor Party to modify its National Platform at the National Conference on 26-28 July 2018 to include the removal of the tampon tax.
Quote from Tanja Kovac, National Co-Convenor, EMILY’s List Australia
“Bleeding is not a luxury, menstruation should not be taxed. Period.”
“The Coalition government needs to demonstrate that it cares about women in the Budget and remove the unfair and discriminatory Tampon Tax.”
Media Contact: Tanja Kovac, National Co-Convenor 0419 910 577 / [email protected]