Page 2420 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 August 2022
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The dictionary of the bill defines education providers as a government school, a registered training organisation under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act, a registered training organisation under the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act, and any other entity prescribed by regulation.
It will be incumbent upon private schools, universities and vocational training providers to provide period products to students in need on their premises. The director-general will be responsible for making publicly available access arrangements for government schools, and private institutions will be responsible for making access arrangements available to the students of the institution.
Period poverty can come about due to financial worries and issues with accessing products; also, problems with access to facilities, both at home or at work, can cause someone to experience period poverty. I have expanded the scope of the bill that was originally drafted to begin to help to prevent some of these issues.
Through the extensive consultation that I undertook with my office on the crafting of this bill, several female workers who have previously undertaken or are currently doing territory-funded work informed me that, in some circumstances, there can be issues with facilities at the sites where they work. This ranged from having been to a worksite with no facilities to going onsite and women’s toilets being locked, meaning that the employee needed to ask the manager for a key every time they needed to use the bathroom. That is why the requirements in the bill for workers has included not only access but dignified access to facilities. You should not have to ask for a key to use the bathroom at work, whether you are managing your period or not.
Part 3 of the bill explicitly mandates that ACT public service employees and workers who are undertaking territory-funded work must have access to adequate facilities. Additionally, this part of the bill provides a specific clause for reporting issues by ACT public service employees.
Part 4 of the bill outlines a requirement for the director-general to write guidelines in compliance with the act for any industry or sector which is deemed to need them. The guidelines can outline procedures for providing these facilities with a reasonable amount of privacy, for those accessing the facility, and procedures for protecting the personal information of those people.
While overcoming the physical barriers which can cause period poverty is possible, it is also important to work to reduce the less tangible barriers which exist. Another significant cause of period poverty, cultural stigma and the behaviours that go with it, can cause shame and silence when it comes to menstruation. This cultural stigma has been, and is still, present in all cultures, ranging from mild discomfort in discussing this natural bodily process to ostracism of those menstruating or expressions of disgust.
Talking about periods and providing more education material are important steps in reducing this stigma so that learning the necessary information about period management is easier for everyone.
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