Fullers360 will provide free tampons and pads for all customers and employees across the business from Wednesday, making it the first tourism and public transport provider in New Zealand to do so.
The Auckland ferry provider has partnered with Dignity - a women's wellness initiative with a mission to achieve period equity - to enable a buy-one, give-one model when purchasing tampons and pads. For every item Fullers360 purchases to provide freely to its costumes and employees, Dignity provides another for people unable to access period products.
In a statement on Wednesday, Fullers360 CEO Mike Horne said period products should be readily available in the same way people can access any other basic bathroom amenities, such as soap, hand towels and toilet paper.
"Our people and passengers deserve to have access to period care products in any bathroom, just like they can access toilet paper and hand soap. We're incredibly proud to be able to provide free period care and encourage people to take what they need," Horne said.
"Our hope is that by providing free products on-board and in our office bathrooms, we can help close the period equity gap in New Zealand."
Fullers360 crew development manager Natasha Colville said having access to period products on-board will help take away the anxiety marine crew can experience when they're caught out on the job.
"There are days when you're on the ferry for your shift without any access to a nearby pharmacy or supermarket, or you may be stationed at a Department of Conservation-protected island and there's nowhere at all to get what you need.
"This will make a massive difference to anyone who uses these products."
There are approximately 1.2 million people who menstruate in New Zealand and 700,000 are said to live in extreme poverty with little or no access to period products.
Dignity and other providers have seen a significant increase in demand for period products due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 90 percent of community groups surveyed by Dignity in 2021 reported that cost was the main barrier to accessing period products and to date, Dignity has gifted more than 546,780 period products to people in need.
Dispensers containing free period products will be available in the bathrooms of Fullers360's ferry services from Wednesday.
In April last year The Warehouse Group - which owns The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming, Torpedo7, 1-Day and The Market - announced it would be offering free period products for its 11,000 staff members nationwide.
