Our petition to #PadUpPublicHealth is now closed and received 53,259 signatures! While we wait for a response from the Federal Health Minister we need the Prime Minister and our Federal MPs to know how important this is to Australia.
When you’re in hospital, already sick, stressed, vulnerable, or recovering from childbirth, it’s not guaranteed that you will have access to sanitary items such as period products or maternity pads if you need them. In public hospitals across Australia, there is access to band-aids, bandages, painkillers, and incontinence aids, but not pads or tampons.
Here at Share the Dignity, we knew this was an issue, having heard stories from many women who had been menstruating while in hospital. Menstruation is not a choice, so they had no choice but to use incontinence pads, adult nappies or dressings to get by until they could purchase their own products, or their family came to visit. We needed to understand the extent of the issue.
We put a call out to our community asking for women and girls to share their experiences. The response was overwhelming. Thousands of you responded with your stories about access to period products while in hospital.
While it might be a hospital policy to stock period products, we found this wasn’t the experience of all women. Availability is limited and many rely on the kindness of nurses and midwives who give pads from their own supply. Some women had to wait hours for help, lying in their own blood. This is not okay.
If you agree that women, girls and those who menstruate, should not have to worry about how they manage their period at any point, especially when they are sick and vulnerable in hospital send a letter asking the government to make a change!
I signed the petition to #PadUpPublicHealth, what now?
Our latest crusade is gaining momentum.
#PadUpPublicHealth calls for the Australian Government to introduce free period products in all public hospitals. We’ve been gathering the information we need to engage key decision-makers, including Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt. Here was his response to our advocacy letter.
We need your help to influence the decision-makers in the Australian Government AND your local area and implore them to make a change for good.
Please download the template letters below to send to the Prime Minister, your local and federal MP, and state/territory Health Minister.
Your voice can have a big impact on the lives of women and girls all over Australia.
Contact Health Ministers
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National – Hon Mark Bulter, Minister for Health and Aged Care
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Australian Capital Territory (ACT) – Rachel Stephen-Smith, Minister for Health
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New South Wales (NSW) – Hon Ryan Park, Minister for Health and Regional Health
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Northern Territory (NT) – Hon Natasha Fyles, Minister for Health
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Queensland (QLD) – Hon Shannon Fentiman, Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Services
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South Australia (SA) – Chris Picton, Minister for Health and Wellbeing
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Tasmania (TAS) – Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing
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Western Australia (WA) – Hon Amber-Jade Sanderson BA MLA, Minister for Health and Mental Health
Template letter - Prime Minister 2022
Use this template to send a letter to the Prime Minister to #paduppublichealth
View
Template letter - Federal MPs 2022
Use this template to send a letter to your federal MP to #paduppublichealth
View
Template letter - State Health Ministers 2022
Use this template to inform your State/Territory Health Minister about #paduppublichealth
View
Template letter - Local MPs 2022
Use this template to inform your local MP about #paduppublichealth
ViewShare your story
As we try to #PadUpPublicHealth sharing your story is so important to keep the conversation going and to encourage others to speak out about their own experience.
Share your story below or to sign the petition click here.
Your stories
We’ve been listening to your experiences and so has the media, with 9Honey supporting our movement and helping to shine a spotlight on this important issue.
![Christine says 'Was admitted to [redacted] hospital in WA last year in an emergency sitation and had my period at the time. You would think I was asking for their bank account details when I asked for sanitary products! It's not like I had time to pack. How can hospitals be so unprepared for something 50% of the population requires on a daily basis 25% of the time?'](https://d1fzx274w8ulm9.cloudfront.net/1l1e0npuak9sd.png "Christine says 'Was admitted to [redacted] hospital in WA last year in an emergency sitation and had my period at the time. You would think I was asking for their bank account details when I asked for sanitary products! It's not like I had time to pack. How can hospitals be so unprepared for something 50% of the population requires on a daily basis 25% of the time?'")
![Melissa says 'I'm a paediatric nurse. It's not uncommon to be caring for young adolescent [girls] on their first period. You would think that there would be supplied pads for patients and for parents with young children who can't leave the ward, but this usually isn't the case. How can we expect minors admitted to hospital to just go and get pads or to have to ask a relative to buy some for them? It's honestly a disgrace.'](https://d1fzx274w8ulm9.cloudfront.net/6m8qucds44.png "Melissa says 'I'm a paediatric nurse. It's not uncommon to be caring for young adolescent [girls] on their first period. You would think that there would be supplied pads for patients and for parents with young children who can't leave the ward, but this usually isn't the case. How can we expect minors admitted to hospital to just go and get pads or to have to ask a relative to buy some for them? It's honestly a disgrace.'")
