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Free pads and tampons in public places

The Victorian Government is providing free pads and tampons through vending machines located in public places across the state.

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Menstruation, or having a period, is a natural part of life. Despite this, many people cannot afford to buy the period products they need to fully participate in school, work and social activities.

Pads and tampons are a necessity, not a luxury. People should be able to access them whenever and wherever they need them.

Free vending machines with pads and tampons are being installed at up to 700 public places across Victoria, including:

To find more information and stay up to date on new machine locations, go to the Free pads and tampons website.

Why is access to period products important?

Menstrual health is an important part of sexual and reproductive health.

A lack of access to appropriate period products can have significant negative impacts across many areas of people’s lives. It can affect physical and mental health, and make it difficult to participate in education, employment and social activities.

Consultation and research

To help this program reach as many people as possible, we are consulting with the community, including:

We also engaged leading researchers to interview people who are likely to access free pads and tampons. This helped us understand the current barriers to access for Victorians.

This research found that while there is no one-size-fits-all approach to providing free period products, there was support for free pad and tampon vending machines in public places to help them manage their periods.

Stakeholder Advisory Group

We have established a Stakeholder Advisory Group who provided critical guidance in the establishment phase of this project. This group provided the Victorian Government with advice about how this program can best meet the needs of the community and people accessing free pads and tampons.

This stakeholder advisory group is made up of :

Evaluation

We are developing a detailed evaluation plan to ensure we can make improvements throughout the life of the program and measure its impact.

The two main objectives of this program are to increase access to period products and normalise periods.

This evaluation will build the evidence base about the effectiveness of providing free period products, as this is the first initiative of its kind in Australia.

Other programs supporting free period products

Victoria is proud to be delivering this nation-leading initiative to provide free access to period products through machines in public places. These are some of the other programs in Australia and around the world that support free access.

Resources

If you are looking for more health information about your period, go to the Better Health Channel.

You can also find more information about the Victorian Government’s Free Pads and Tampons in Government Schools program.

Share the Dignity commissioned the world’s largest body of data on periods through a survey in 2021 and 2024 with more than 150,000 respondents.

Health & social support

Updated 28 April 2025

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