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Should the GST be applied to tampons and sanitary napkins?


The issue

In January, 2000, there was an on-going debate between the federal government and a number of spokespersons for women's groups over the issue of whether tampons and sanitary napkins should attract the GST.
The debate focused around a comment by the Minister for Health, Dr Michael Wooldridge that `menstruation is not an illness' and that products essential to men, such as shaving cream, were also not exempt from the GST.

What they said ...

'If I was a bloke, I'd like shaving cream to be exempt but I'm not expecting it to be'
Federal Minister for Health, Dr Michael Wooldridge

'But the social consequences of failing to use sanitary products each month bear no comparison to those of sporting a three-day growth'
Melbourne writer and broadcaster, Sian Prior

Echo Issue Outline 2000 / 21
Copyright © Echo Education Services
First published in The Echo news digest and newspaper sources index.

Issue outline by J M McInerney

Background
In February the federal Parliament received an electronic petition bearing 10,355 signatures. This has been claimed to have been the largest petition ever tabled in parliament. The aim of the petition was to have the GST removed from tampons and sanitary napkins.
The Minister for Health, Dr Michael Wooldridge claimed that the matter had been considered by an expert committee, including the Government's former chief medical officer, Judith Whitworth.
The committee, Dr Wooldridge claimed, saw no reason for extending the GST exemption to other goods.
The Government's decision was met by a series of protest rallies in major cities around Australia.

Internet links
The ABC's news online site has transcripts of a number of reports dealing with this issue.
On January 26, 2000 there was a 7.00 news broadcast item titled, 'Claims tampon industry is firing up GST debate'. A transcript of this item can be found at http://abc.net.au/news/2000/01/item20000125131536_1.htm

The day before, on January 25, 2000, the ABC's morning radio show, AM, ran an interview with the Prime Minister, Mr Howard, on the issue. The interview was conducted by Fiona Reynolds and was titled, 'Howard rules out GST changes'. A transcript of the interview can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/am/s95145.htm

On January 29, The Age ran a news item titled, 'Tampon tax divides MPs' The item was written by Phillip Hudson and Gabrielle Costa. It can be found at

On February 16, 2000, The Sydney Morning Herald ran an article titled, 'Tampon tax outcry may spark GST break for nursing mums'. The article was written by Mark Metherell and can be found at http://netmarket.fairfax.com.au/news/0002/16/national/national9.html

On February 26, 2000, The Sydney Morning Herald published a news report titled, 'Tampon tax rally marches on Packer and Libs'. The item can be found at http://203.26.177.61/news/0002/26/national/national9.html#top

On February 26, 2000, The Age ran a news item on a protest against applying the GST to tampons that was held in Perth. The report was titled, 'Tampon tax protest turns ugly'. The article was written by Brendan Nicholson. It can be found at http://www.theage.com.au/news/20000226/A39847-2000Feb25.html

Arguments in favour of the GST being applied to tampons and sanitary napkins
There are five main arguments offered in favour of the GST being applied to tampons and sanitary napkins.

1. Tampons and sanitary napkins are not a health product.
According to this line of argument, the GST has not been applied to health products. The federal Minister for Health, Dr Michael Wooldridge, has stated that he does not see tampons and sanitary napkins falling into this category.
The health minister has claimed that condoms, sunscreen, folate pills and aspirin were exempt from the tax because they provided clear medical benefits. However, the minister does not believe tampons and sanitary napkins offer medical benefits as menstruation is not an illness.
'I wasn't aware that menstruation was an illness ...' Dr Wooldridge has observed.
Again, because they are not considered health products, the GST has been applied to nappies and toilet paper.

2. It is also claimed that taxing tampons and sanitary napkins does not discriminate against women as products used exclusively by men are also being taxed.
According to this line of argument a number of products used largely or exclusively by either men or women are being taxed under the GST. The example Dr Wooldridge gave was shaving cream. 'If I was a bloke, I'd like shaving cream exempt but I'm not expecting it to be.'

3. It has been noted that in some areas women are specifically advantaged under the new tax system.
According to this line of argument, some products used largely or exclusively by women will be cheaper under the new system. This point has been made by the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard.
Mr Howard has noted that though make-up and perfume will attract the GST, they will finally be cheaper to buy as the larger wholesales tax is being removed from them.

4. It has been claimed that the tax on tampons and sanitary napkins will not mean a large extra expense for most women.
Commentator for The Australian, Frank Devine, has estimated, 'For the average user, tampons will cost an extra $4 a year with GST added, payable in monthly instalments.'
Mr Devine has also noted that those who would find this increase difficult to meet would already be on some form of government benefit and that these benefits are going to rise specifically to help people in straitened circumstances cope with the GST.

5. It has also been claimed that if an exception is made for tampons and sanitary napkins this will open the way for other exceptions to be sought and will begin to 'unravel' the new system.
Mr Howard has stated, 'We are going to have 80 per cent of Australian taxpayers on a top marginal rate of no more than 30 cents in the dollar and if we start unravelling and unpicking and pulling this thing apart, you are going to threaten that.'
According to this line of argument, once exceptions begin to be made the government will no longer be able to afford the tax cuts which it has promised wage earners.

Arguments against the GST being applied to tampons and sanitary napkins
There are five main arguments offered against the imposition of the GST on tampons and sanitary napkins.

1. It is claimed that tampons and sanitary napkins are a health care product
In an article written for the Herald Sun, commentator Jill Singer, notes that the US Food and Drug Administration states that its role is regulating 'the safety and effectiveness of medical devices, including tampons.'
It has been noted that if sanitary napkins or tampons were not worn then this would lead to hygiene concerns and endanger the health of menstruating women and others.
Critics of the imposition of the tax on tampons and sanitary napkins have also noted that for many women with menstrual irregularities tampons are a medical product.
It is also noted that if incontinence napkins are being classed as a medical device, and are therefore tax exempt, then sanitary napkins, which as sometimes used for the same purpose, should be also.

2. It has been claimed that taxing tampons and sanitary napkins discriminates against women.
It has been claimed that supposedly comparable male products, such as shaving cream, are actually discretionary products, as it is socially acceptable for a man to grow a beard and there is no health risk with him doing so.
Critics of the tax on tampons and sanitary napkins note that women are compelled to wear these devices for some forty or fifty years of their lives. Health concerns and social concerns require them to do so. It is therefore argued that to impose a tax on these products discriminates against women who cannot avoid paying the tax.
It has also been noted that the supposed comparability between a tax on tampons and a tax on toilet paper is not genuine as toilet paper previously attracted a wholesales tax so that even withthe imposition of the GST on this product it is now cheaper.

3. It has been claimed that the advantages the new tax system offers women do not compensate for the disadvantage represented by the tax on tampons and sanitary napkins.
It has been claimed that products such as perfume and make-up which will be cheaper under the new tax system do not compensate women for the increased cost of tampons and sanitary napkins.
The Liberal MP, Ms Trish Draper, has acknowledge that while some tax changes such as the decreased cost of make-up and perfume would advantage women these were discretionary items, while tampons were a 'no option purchase'.

4. It has also been claimed that the GST will add a significant amount to an already expensive essential item.
Herald Sun commentator, Jill Singer, has disputed the supposed $4 a year which it has been suggested the GST would add to women's expenditure on tampons and sanitary napkins.
Ms Singer has claimed that estimates that the average women spends between forty and fifty dollars a year on sanitary protection were wrong. She has calculated that this would represent some $4 a period, which at an average cost of 22 cents a tampon would suggest that women use only 18 tampons a month. Ms Singer suggests this is 'an unrealistic and unhygienic' estimate.
Critics have also noted that the GST is being added onto an already expensive item.
A Women's Electoral Lobby spokesperson, Ms Erica Lewis, has noted, 'If there's one thing that riles women like no other it's the cost of sanitary products ...'

5. It has been claimed that it is possible to exempt some goods and services from the GST without endangering the whole new tax system.
This is the position put by the Australian Democrats who required the government to remove the GST from fresh food before they would support it in Parliament. The leader of the Democrats, Senator Meg Lees, has said in relation to the GST being imposed on tampons and sanitary napkins, 'It was a mistake on our part'.
The leader of the Opposition, Mr Kim Beazley, has also indicated that were his party to become the government it would not abolish the GST but it would remove the tax from certain items.

Further implications
It seems highly unlikely that the current federal Government would remove the GST from tampons and sanitary napkins in the immediate future. Its opposition to the suggestion has been so absolute that it would leave itself open to charges of weakness and inconsistency were it to do so. It would also be likely to add to the strength of pressure groups currently campaigning for a removal of or reduction in the GST on goods such as petrol and beer.
The fate of the tax on tampons and sanitary napkins is tied to how well the electorate as a whole responds to the GST. If it appears that the new tax has been badly received and is likely to threaten the Government's survival at the next election, it is possible that the Government will engage in its own form of rollback and reduce or remove the GST on a number of sensitive items. Tampons and sanitary napkins would be in this group.
Were the Opposition to get in at the next election it is highly likely that it would remove the GST from tampons and sanitary napkins. It has pledged to rollback the GST in a number of areas and this would very probably be one it would chose. In this it would be supported by the Australian Democrats who have already indicated that they regret not having bargained with the Government to have the tax removed from tampons and sanitary napkins at the same time as they had it successfully removed from fresh food.
Interestingly VAT (Britain's GST) has just been reduced to the lowest level possible, five per cent, on tampons and sanitary napkins by the Blair Government. In Britain as well, these products had previously been classified as luxury items and had attracted the highest valued added tax possible, 17.5 per cent.
British women had conducted a similar campaign to the one being run in Australia to have the tax removed from tampons and sanitary napkins.

Sources
The Age
22/1/00 page 5 news item by Jason Koutsoukis, 'Women outraged over tampon tax'
26/1/00 page 2 news item by Phillip Hudson and Gabrielle Costa, 'Tampon tax divides MPs'
26/1/00 page 16 editorial, 'Time for Howard to cut his tax losses'
26/1/00 page 17 comment by Sian Prior, 'Why women bristle at talk of shaving cream'
19/2/00 page 9 (News Extra section) comment by Ruth Cullen, 'It's not just a tampon, buddy'
18/3/00 page 5 news item, 'UK to cut tampon tax'

The Australian
27/1/00 page 11 comment by Frank Devine, 'Tampon trantrum a tedious feminist blunder'
26/1/00 page 13 comment by Fions Stewart, 'GST makes women blood sisters'
16/2/00 page 5 news item by John Kerin, Wayne Adams and Richard McGregor, '10,000 signatures fight tampon GST'

The Herald Sun
21/1/00 page 4 news item, 'Anger greets tax ruling on tampons'
28/1/00 page 20 comment by Jill Singer, 'The Howard Government will bleed, too, over this tampon issue'