An Australian woman who made headlines around the globe after she was fined $500 for stealing a $6.75 pack of tampons will donate to charity a quarter of the money raised in her name in a bid to ensure it doesn't happen to other women.

The 20-year-old, who did not wish to be identified, said she was acutely embarrassed by what had happened.

Tweet from the Coolgardie police, WA, after a woman was issued with a $500 fine for stealing a $6.75 packet of tampons.

"I'm too embarrassed to even leave the house," she said.

The woman was issued with a $500 fine for stealing the tampons from a Caltex service station in Coolgardie, near Australia's famous mining town of Kalgoorlie, shortly after 9am on a Monday morning in October.