There’s a little-known way Aussies can get discounts on period products you can buy in stores like Coles and Woolworths, with some shoppers able to nab a 100 per cent rebate.

At least 22 councils across Australia have launched rebates for reusable menstrual products, including period underwear, reusable sanitary pads and menstrual cups.

Period underwear, for example, can be bought from the major supermarkets from $14, while menstrual cups are available from around $42 each.

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Most of the councils offer residents 50 per cent off rebates with a $50 cap, but the incentives vary with the most generous being a 100 per cent off rebate with a $130 cap.

Share the Dignity founder Rochelle Courtenay encouraged more Australians to take advantage of the rebates and said all councils should look to introduce the initiative.

“One in five [Australians] have been through period poverty and 48 per cent of people are leaving tampons in for too long because they want it to last longer. The fact that we’ve got reusable options is fabulous,” Courtenay told Yahoo Finance.

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Cost-of-living pressures mean more Australians are now struggling to afford period products, while products themselves are also increasing in price.

“Period products you used to be able to get for $3 and they are now $5, $7. Like fuel, like electricity - everything seems to be going up, yet our wages have not been the same,” Courtenay said.

“I’ve heard recently from a teacher’s aide who was probably on about $80,000 a year. Her husband lost his job and she was cutting a pad in half to make it last because she wanted her kids to keep doing sport and [going to] childcare.

“We’re talking about the working poor, not just people who we started the charity for which is people who are experiencing homelessness and fleeing domestic violence. Poverty seems to be consuming and affecting everyday Australians.”

Courteney said reusable menstrual products were “an absolute game changer” but said more education and awareness was needed to increase uptake.

There's also the environmental benefits, with the Mornington Peninsula council noting most pads and tampons end up in landfill, while the individual items are generally wrapped in plastic.