VENDING machines dispensing free pads and tampons are set to be installed across the Kingston municipality.
Kingston mayor Jenna Davey-Burns says that council is working alongside the state government to implement the “free pads and tampons in public places program.” The dispensers are being rolled out at 700 sites statewide, with Kingston’s libraries set to be among them.
“We know period poverty disproportionately affects women who are unemployed, university and TAFE students, women who are experiencing homelessness, those women displaced due to family violence, migrant women, and the LGBTQIA+ community,” Davey-Burns said. “Through the installation of the vending machines in libraries across Kingston, all women will have access to free sanitary products, menstrual education, hand washing, and waste disposal in public spaces that are clean and easy to access.
“This is a problem I am particularly proud to be working with the state government to solve in our city. At its core this is about dignity.”
The machines are expected to be installed this year.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 28 February 2024