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Happy New Year! Australia has abolished the tampon tax as of 2019

Praise be to women, the tampon tax is over. Long live appropriately-priced periods.

Up until January 1, tampons and other sanitary goods such as pads, period underwear and menstrual cups, were taxed as a ‘non-essential items’. This meant incurring a GST of 10 percent.

Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockPhoto

As of January 1 2019, the tampon tax no longer exists in Australia and it’s about time – this marks almost 20 years fighting a tax on women’s sanitary goods as ‘non-essential items’.

It took 19 years but the war is over. Since 2001, people have been lobbying for the removal of a tax they found unjust, especially when you take into consideration how female sanitary items were taxed while condoms and lube were and are considered ‘health goods’ and therefore not taxed.

It comes three months after a unanimous state and federal vote pulled the plug on the tampon tax. The decision came after Greens senator Janet Rice introduced a bill to the federal senate to rid us of the sexist tax earlier in the year.

Minister for Women Kelly O’Dwyer said, “Millions of Australian women will benefit.”

“This is a long-overdue reform which will put more money into the hip pockets of Australian households,” said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in October.

It will now be a joy to walk into the local supermarket from this moment on and buy un-taxed tampons, something most young people have never experienced.