You may have noticed tampons and pads are slightly cheaper this year.
That is because most businesses have dropped the prices of sanitary products, after the Federal Government decided to exempt them from the GST.
A report from the regulation watchdog, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has found nearly all Australian businesses have reduced their prices by 9.1 per cent since the start of the year, when the changes came into effect.
But with businesses not legally obligated to slash the cost of tampons and pads accordingly, the report found some companies "used the opportunity to improve their margins or adjust their prices".
"The ACCC acknowledges that businesses are free to set their own prices," the report said.
"Nonetheless, in the absence of any explanation, concurrent price increases may lead consumers to believe the GST had not been removed, or that the price was not reduced by as much as they had expected, from the products at those stores."
After an 18-year campaign, states and territories last year agreed to pass the Government proposal, which saw the 10 per cent tax on tampons and pads removed.
The ACCC report found despite some businesses taking advantage of the change, most cut their prices.
"The vast majority of retailers sampled were well prepared for the removal of the GST, and reduced retail prices of menstrual products by the expected 9.1 per cent," ACCC acting chair Delia Rickard said.
In some cases where prices were not dropped, the ACCC found system and human errors were to blame, with retailers failing to remove the GST for a short time after January 1.
7-Eleven told the ACCC it failed to remove the GST from menstrual products due to a system glitch that was not corrected for almost three weeks.
It said it had incorrectly charged about $9,000 to customers, but decided to donate that money to charity.
The matter is under internal investigation.
Caltex also failed to reduce its prices as a result of a system error that lasted for one month, but it later reduced its prices by up to 9.68 per cent, in order to make up for the error.
The ACCC advises consumers who have been charged GST on sanitary products to return to stores with proof of purchase and seek a refund.
