Rebecca Archer
Welcome to The Remarkables – Grant Thornton’s podcast series dedicated to sharing extraordinary stories of individuals who are making significant contributions to their communities. These people pave the way for a brighter future and motivate everyone to make a positive impact.
In this episode we welcome Rochelle Courtenay, the Founder & Managing Director of Share The Dignity, which is a women's charity in Australia that aims to end period poverty by distributing period products to girls and women who might be experiencing homelessness, fleeing domestic violence, or anyone who menstruates and is doing it tough.
Let’s find out about the journey of this incredible charity…
Welcome Rochelle – thank you for joining us on the podcast today!
Rochelle Courtenay
Thank you. I'm excited to be here.
Rebecca Archer
Traditionally, we do ask all of our guests what they're reading or listening to or watching at the moment. Do you have any recommendations?
Rochelle Courtenay
Yeah, I'm actually audiobooking Elevate, which is unlock your extraordinary potential by Shannah Kennedy and Colleen Callandar because I'm actually taking off on 130 kilometre trek through Tuscany with the ladies in October and I am so excited about it.
Rebecca Archer
That sounds just amazing!
Rochelle Courtenay
I cannot wait. It's actually going with ten other extraordinary women, so I think it will be… it's all about surrounding yourself with amazing people, right?
Rebecca Archer
I love it. What a good mantra to live by. Now, Rochelle, your charity was founded in 2015. What was it that motivated you to help women and girls in this specific way?
Rochelle Courtenay
Yeah. In 2015, I read an article that talked about the fact that there were 48,000 women who didn't have somewhere safe to call home, and while I'd thought about not having somewhere safe to call home, what I read next was that they were using socks and newspaper and wadded up toilet paper to deal with their period, and I am embarrassed still to say I never thought that that was something that anyone had ever had to go through, and I'd suffered severely from endometriosis.
So, for me, having a period was not just a normal period. It was a tampon. It was a pad. If I had long drives, I had to sit on a towel. It was complicated, my period, but I always had a home, a shower, a change of undies, and I could always afford period products. Right. I mean, I will say I didn't grow up in an affluent home. We were quite poor, but I never went without the very basic of essentials, and I think that that is the reason why this was so important to me. I can't believe that this is happening in Australia.
I'd actually never thought that it would happen anywhere, but I could imagine it would happen in a third world country, but never Australia – the lucky country, right? But to be honest, the problem's much greater than I ever first imagined.
Rebecca Archer
When did you first become aware that some women were needing to choose between buying adequate period products and feeding themselves?
Rochelle Courtenay
Yeah. In 2015, when I read that first article, I then Google searched it and there were other articles written on it, and I just thought to myself, at that stage, my daughters were 16 and 15, and I thought, oh, my God, I never want them to read about this as a problem, but then I had my own personal training business, and I asked all my clients to bring me a packet of pads or tampons for every wine they had. In the month of March 2015.
And ultimately, in the name of share the dignity, it was my job, and it's still my job, to make sure that there isn't a person in Australia who doesn't know that the problem exists because you can't unhear that a young girl is stealing socks from a laundry mat to be able to put into her underwear to deal with her period. You can't unhear that one of our teachers is cutting a pad in half because her family's doing it tough with the mortgage increases. You know, those things are people. They're people that we all know and love. And if you think it's not happening to people that you know, then you're severely wrong, because it is happening, and we are all part of the solution, because if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. So, donate period products. I wanted to make it super easy for people to be part of the solution as well.
Rebecca Archer
And on that note, can you tell us a little bit more about the kinds of work that share the dignity does in communities?
Rochelle Courtenay
Even to take you back, in March and August, we put our collection boxes out in thousands of businesses around Australia. So, the really easy one to get to is Woolworths. We all have to go to the grocery store at least once a week, and so in March and August, the collection box is there. We ask you to pick up period products. So, pads, tampons, incontinence products, period undies, even menstrual cups. Whatever it is, it's great to give people choices.
We then collect them around Australia. We have three and a half thousand volunteers that we call Shiros in Australia.
So, if the products are donated in Bunbury or Brighton or Tasmania, wherever they're donated, they stay to help the local area and they help women's domestic violence services, homelessness services, our community services, which is the part that we cannot now keep up with. So where, when I very first started, I thought we would just be helping 44,000 women who are experiencing homelessness, which means that we've just finished our August collection. We did collect 200,000 period products, but that is only enough to help 50,000 women for four months. So, you can see in Australia, 173,000 people turned to homelessness services just last year. That doesn't include our drought-stricken farming communities, or where they've been flooded, or our remote indigenous communities, or poverty.
Poverty, now, where we've got three million Australians who live below the poverty line, who actually cannot afford to feed their families and pay rents and electricity and fuel and all of the other costs and period products are coming as a luxury, and you know what? They should absolutely be a basic human right.
Rebecca Archer
And over the last ten years that you've been operating this charity, you have, of course, expanded into different projects. Can you tell us a little bit about those as well?
Rochelle Courtenay
We have tried to stay in our lane, so we obviously, we do the two dignity drives a year, and then we do, ‘It's in the Bag’, which is actually, like my favourite child. So, it is where we ask everyday Australians to fill a handbag – a handbag that they may have in their cupboard that they no longer use, that you would give to your best friend. Fill it with life's essentials. Things like shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, then period products, then anything else you put in your bag is up to your bag size, your imagination and your budget. So, for me, in my bag, I always – I've owned 7,422,000 hair ties in my lifetime, and I can never find one. So, a pack of hair ties always goes in my bag; a chapstick, because I have a chapstick in my drawer, I have it in my bedside drawer; I have one in my car, I have one in my handbag – always put chapsticks in.
So, just think about what it is that you would want in your handbag and know that your handbag that you're donating will go to a woman who's spending Christmas in a domestic violence shelter or experiencing homelessness or extreme poverty, and for many, it is the only Christmas gift that they'll get, and it's more than things. It's about a hug in a handbag. It's about knowing that somebody else has got you.
And I still get goosebumps when I talk about that because the stories that we hear and the impact that the bags have can never really be measured. So, you know, if there's ever any takeaway from today, from anyone listening, it's put together a bag because the impact is profound, and just for you to know that somebody's waking up on Christmas Day to know that somebody cares about them.
I'll never forget the first year that we did it and hearing a woman who told a story about how she, this was the first Christmas gift that she got since she was ten years old and she was in her forties. Imagine just being able to get a handbag from your cupboard that you no longer use and going and buying a few things from the shops and being able to have the impact like that. It's profound, and, you know, I can tell you a thousand other stories and I'm sure we're going to run out of time. So, you can find on our YouTube channel, stories of the women who have received bags that have bravely shared, you know, how much those bags meant to them.
Rebecca Archer
And for people who do have lots of spare handbags hanging around, and let's face it, that's a lot of us. How do they donate for that particular project?
Rochelle Courtenay
Yeah. So, if you head to our website, which is www.sharethedignity.org.au, you'll find a shopping list. We do three different types of bags. A women's bag, a teen bag, which just requires you to put a yellow ribbon on it, and a mum and bub bag. So, there are shopping lists on that and there are the dates you drop them into any Bunnings across Australia the last two weeks of November.
So, they have to get in there, into those collection points so that our volunteers can get them and get them out to the services, to the charities that we work with. We work with around 3000 charities around Australia. So, we're not actually giving the bag to the end person. What we're doing is giving them to the domestic violence services, the homelessness services, and they then give them out from there.
Rebecca Archer
No wonder that's your favourite child. What a fantastic project. What are some of the other services or products and things like that that you've kind of gotten involved with over the years?
Rochelle Courtenay
A lot of the work that we do is in advocacy. So, one of the programs that we have done is the Bloody Big Survey. So, in 2021, we brought about the Bloody Big Survey. We had 125,000 responses. It's the biggest body of data that the world has ever seen on menstruation, but that data was alarming. It showed us that one in four in Australia have been through period poverty. Are you kidding me?
I first read that there were 44,000 women who didn't have somewhere safe to call home, and I thought I could get them period products. But yet we're saying that one in four Australians have been through period poverty. It was alarming. I think it was stats that shocked not just Australia, but the world.
We then just did a Bloody Big Survey in 2024, and we are committed to doing a survey every three years to measure the improvement of menstrual equity in Australia. And so, in the survey in 2024, we had 153,000 responses. Again, the biggest body of data, but I think I was shocked and saddened that the problem had actually gotten worse, not better, and that is to do with mortgage increases, the way that the economy is for many, but in that there are some really easy, actionable items, and I think that one of the easiest ones that we've got is that more than 50 per cent of women are in the workforce having time off due to their period, and 35 per cent of them are saying it's a fear of leaking, and I would suggest that any business can put period products into their bathroom.
If I can go into businesses and they've got table tennis tables and they've got lunches, and they've got days off for yoga and all of those sorts of things, it's a really easy return of investment to put period products in your bathroom and make sure that is one less thing that any of your staff need to be worrying about. You know, those sorts of things. Our advocacy then lines up with making sure that girls don't miss out on sport, that girls don't miss out on education, that we're really running an equal race. And if provision of period products is going to fix that, then that's what we'll do. That's what we will advocate for, and I absolutely will die trying making sure that the next Bloody Big Survey that we do in 2027 has better results.
Rebecca Archer
Speaking of advocacy, Share The Dignity was, of course, pivotal in ending the $30m tampon tax back in 2018. What can you tell us about lobbying the government and that whole experience?
Rochelle Courtenay
Yeah, well, it was a full year of my life I'm never going to get back, but it made me realise that the more noise you make and the more that you give airtime to other people is how you will get action. I believe that our Government works for us, and when we see a wrong, we've got to make it right. If we look at the GST, and it's a bit of a long story, it had had ever since it was bought in the GST on those luxurious period products that we have, and about every two years, there'd be a change.org petition.
Hundreds of thousands of women would sign it, right? But it didn't go anywhere, and so in this instance, when I realised – and to be really honest, I didn't know that period products had GST on them. It wasn't until I was creating our vending machines that dispense a free period pack at the touch of a button for dignified access that I realised that they fell under the Therapeutics Goods Association Act – period products did – but yet they were classified a luxury. So, they had GST on them, and so that really annoyed me, and at that stage, I went to a Politics at the Pub where Malcolm Turnbull was there, and I said to him, Malcolm – I got the microphone – and it was a year that I had just been a finalist in Australian of the Year. And so, I had met him at a previous event, and I introduced myself like everybody else, and I said, could you please explain why you think it's fair that our period products are taxed with GST, even though they fall under the Therapeutics Goods Association Act? It seems like it's not right.
And he said, oh, I've heard no noise from any of the states and territories around this, and we won't be removing any tax from any products. And I think I went home in a fit of rage, typed this Federal Petition that then required 100,000 online signatures in 30 days, and we got it. We got the most signed online petition that Australia had ever seen, but in the interim, what I did was go through to some legal students who were in their final year and asked them to research all of the work on what other countries had removed the GST. What were some of the barriers? What were some of the legalities that I needed to know. So that was so pivotal in needing to work that out. So, the online petition, the Federal Petition, had to be heard in parliament. We then got the Greens on board, who were on board very early. It was an election year, so it was all in the timing of it. And then I went to another Politics at the Pub.
I remember getting a phone call on a Friday afternoon from the Labour party saying, can you meet us in Sydney? We're going to make an announcement that if they get in, that they would remove the GST on period products. And I was like, okay, well, that's two parties I had on board.
But what I wanted was bipartisan support. I emailed our Minister Hunt, who was the Federal Minister for health at that stage, and I asked all of our followers on our social media, our volunteers, everybody, we continuously posted about sending them a copy paste. And I remember Minister Hunt calling me on a Thursday afternoon at 6:00 saying, can you please stop emailing me? I'm like, well, I can if you can call me when I've asked you to.
So, we had this really great conversation, and I knew from the information that the legal students had given me that Minister Hunt, as our Federal Minister for Health, had the ability to remove the GST alone because they were actually fell under the Therapeutics Goods Association Act.
Ten days later, the liberal party called and said, “We've got to make an announcement. Would you like to come to Melbourne?” And in October, it was announced that they would be removing it. So, it wasn't a it wasn't an election promise. It then became something that was set in stone. And on the 1 January 2019, the GST was removed. So, you know, it was an exhausting year, but it was well worth it.
Rebecca Archer
That must have been an absolutely exhilarating feeling when it was finally job done.
Rochelle Courtenay
Absolutely. And, you know, it was common sense prevailing, but I also thought I couldn't run the same race that everybody else had run previously because it wasn't getting through, and that's now how I look at everything that we do. I look at now from the Bloody Big Survey, what are the action items that we need to take from that? And what is the best route to be able to get the outcomes that we need?
Rebecca Archer
On behalf of women across Australia, thank you for your advocacy, because it certainly is nice not to have to pay that extra charge on a product that, as you say, is an essential item.
Now, recently, Rochelle, you achieved a remarkable milestone of 5 million period products donated. Tell us about that.
Rochelle Courtenay
I know. How incredible is that? From 450 packets of period products that my clients bought me because they drank too many wines to 5 million period products donated across the country. It was an extraordinary moment. There were lots of tears, and I couldn't imagine where the woman who's stealing period products from the laundromat would be, or where the girl who's missing out on education because she doesn't have access to period product.
Where would we be if we hadn't have started that, if we hadn't have had that impact? At the end of the day, I always come back to that young woman that I sat on an edge of a bed listening to how she lived on the streets in Adelaide, and for her, stealing period products from a laundromat was her only option, and I will do anything I can to make sure that that doesn't happen for anybody.
Rebecca Archer
So, for people who are listening and perhaps are aware of Share The Dignity, maybe they're hearing about it for the first time. If they're keen to get involved, what should they do to support this charity?
Rochelle Courtenay
Oh, there are so many ways that people can get involved. I think the most powerful thing anyone can do for us is to use their voice. So, if you've listened to this today, write your own social media post about how… that the problem that period poverty exists in Australia.
Take a read of our Bloody Big Survey, or listen to our podcast where I summarise it in 30 minutes for you, because it's a 66 page report, right? If you're anything like me, I'm not going to sit down and read that, but I absolutely will listen to somebody tell me what it's all about. Educate yourself a little bit better – but if I could ask anything, it is that you put together one bag this Christmas, because those bags have such a profound effect on people, and they actually have the ability to change people's lives.
Rebecca Archer
And what about people who might be interested in hosting their own fundraiser? Can you talk about the dress for dignity initiative?
Rochelle Courtenay
Yeah, well, look, we've got so many other different initiatives. Dress For Dignity came to me during COVID where all of the Vinnie shops had closed down and all of those sorts of things, and I thought, you know what? I was cleaning up my cupboard. If you were like me, I'd alphabetised my kitchen, my bathroom, my cupboard – that's not anymore, but was all in colour code. I had so much time up my sleeve, but I also realised that I had way too many dresses, and they were good dresses. They weren't dresses that I wanted to take to Vinnies. They were dresses that I wanted somebody else to re-love.
So Dress For Dignity was born where you can upload your dress, somebody else can relove her, you can sell her for $20, and you weren't using her anyway, and you'll get a tax deduction for the dress that's sitting in your cupboard, but she also gets to be worn by somebody else who's going to love it and then hopefully pass it on, but also avoid landfill and all of the other great sustainable options of giving your dress to somebody else.
At the end of the day, what I also wanted was that that $20 that you give us will help us to buy more period products, put together more bags, have more impact. So, while you can donate $20, if you've got $20, I would say nearly every one of us has got a dress in their cupboard that they no longer wear, right? And that's another donation that I just wanted to make easy ways for people to be able to share the dignity.
So, you know, and then if you wanted to have an It's in the Bag party, we've got everything on the website for you to create an invite to be able to bring some friends over and get everybody to go shopping and bring certain things and then pack and have a wine and cheese together. There's so many different ways to share the dignity.
Rebecca Archer
Now, it doesn't sound like you have much spare time for coming up with any new initiatives, but we're really interested to hear what else might be in the pipeline for Share The Dignity?
Rochelle Courtenay
Yeah, retirement would be what I was looking for. I'm really looking for Share The Dignity, not to be needed in Australia in the next ten years. That is my goal.
With the advocacy piece, it's all about how do we ensure that councils care, that the people that are living in each council have access to provision of period products, that there is also education, because there is a major giant hole in education around menstruation, right from your very first period through to menopause, and so how can councils play a role in that? What does the Federal Education departments look like? What do State-based? There's a lot of work for us to do there, but if I look through to ten years’ time, I look forward to a world where access to period products are as accessible as toilet paper, and that share the dignity will not be needed for ensuring that menstrual equity is here in Australia. That's what my goal is, but I cannot do it alone. I need everybody to come on board to donate, but to also help raise their voice in their council so that their council has to care.
Rebecca Archer
To finish off Rochelle, I wonder if you would mind sharing with us the most remarkable advice that you've ever received, whether that's in a career space or a personal aspect of life, perhaps?
Rochelle Courtenay
I have had many great mentors in my life, right from my very first netball coach, right through to probably the person who's had the most impact on me, and that's Kate Christie, who is a time management specialist. We all only get 24 hours in a day, right? And I could work here for 24 hours today, and I'd still have 24 hours’ worth of work to do tomorrow.
So, it was about prioritising my time, making sure that I'm using my time the most effectively, but also not giving away my health and my mental wellbeing to be able to help other people, and I think that's been really core in share the dignity, and, you know, the first five years of share the dignity, I don't even know how I did it, to be honest, but like anybody with a business, I mean, Share The Dignity is a business, we're just in the business of making a difference. I just had to have good foundations, and I needed to make sure that… you know…and you have to wear lots and lots of hats. It's just working out now and continuously, what hats can you take off and give to somebody else so that you can have time to be the best version of yourself?
Rebecca Archer
And how do you put that into practice? Do you have any tips for people who might be feeling like they're burning the candle at both ends every single day?
Rochelle Courtenay
You know what? You have to put yourself first because your health is your wealth. It's the most important thing that you have. And when you don't have it, it'll be all you ever ask for. So, you know, for me, it is... I set an alarm; I'm up at 5:00; I'm out for a walk from 5:30. I don't read any emails. I don't look at anything. It's about my time. I listen to music. I sing loud. I do whatever I want, and no one can encroach on that time, as well as making sure that I have time.
If I've got to work seven days in a row, then I'm not coming into the office, and I do have non office days because I know that when I'm in the office, I'm not here for me to do work. I'm here to make sure that everybody else can get their work done. So, having days where I'm not here so that I can work on my bodies of work as well, and that's all that time management piece, right?
Rebecca Archer
Such good advice and so important to remember that, too. Now, Rochelle, how can we continue to follow Share The Dignity and your own personal journey beyond this podcast episode today?
Rochelle Courtenay
Yeah, look, I'd love for everybody to connect with me on LinkedIn. I think I'm an oversharer. Everybody will see that. I think that you'll see, see on our Share The Dignity social media, you'll see a lot of me, I feel like, as a charity founder, I feel like our stories that we tell are why people continue to donate to us. Listen to our podcast. You know, you'll need some tissues sometimes, because we do hear some of the stories from the women who've received bags or have been through severe adversity, right? Everybody has a story, and I think that following us on our socials and what we're doing is probably the easiest way to be able to keep up with us, but if you want to reach out directly to me, do it through LinkedIn. It's the easiest; I answer that one.
Rebecca Archer
Rochelle, thank you so much for the work that you do and for finding the time to sit down and have a chat today. Really, really exciting to get to meet you and very much looking forward to what's next for Share The Dignity.
Rochelle Courtenay
Thank you. Well, hopefully it's menstrual equity in Australia.
Rebecca Archer
If you liked this podcast and would like to hear more remarkable stories, you can find, like and subscribe to The Remarkables podcast by Grant Thornton Australia on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Leave us a review or ideas on who you’d like to hear from next. I’m Rebecca Archer – thank you for listening.
