Men and women dressed as bloodied tampons is not a common sight in the streets of Paris, but over the past few weeks, activists have been congregating to protest against the French tax on feminine hygiene products.

Why, they asked, should women pay extra for essential healthcare items?

Members of feminist collective Georgette Sand, which spearheaded the campaign for the 'tampon tax' to be abolished, carried a clothesline swathed with blood-stained underwear.

And their protests worked. After initially rejecting an amendment to abolish the tax, French MPs on Friday voted to make life fairer for half the population by lowering the VAT on pads and tampons from 20 per cent to 5.5 per cent.

The government had previously been opposed to the proposal, saying it would cost $60 million, but on Friday announced it had "found the money" to back the measure.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls described the move as a "step in the right direction", while Finance Minister Michel Sapin said the reduction was "in the interest of half of humanity".

Georgette Sand hailed the amendment as a "victory", and called on manufacturers and retailers to pass the reduction on to consumers.

France's move to drop the tax on feminine hygiene products has renewed calls for the Australian Government to follow suit and stop taxing women for their basic biology.

Greens co-deputy leader Larissa Waters praised France's leadership and called for the Government to reconsider its decision earlier this year not to remove the GST from feminine hygiene products. It must be removed, she told the ABC, because it "increases financial gender inequality".

"Other health items that both women and men buy, like sunscreen and condoms, are exempt - why should it be any different for essential health items that only women need?"

Student Subeta Vimalarajah started an online petition to have the GST removed from feminine hygiene products. ( Facebook: Subeta Vimalarajah )

In May, a CommunityRun petition urging then-treasurer Joe Hockey to remove the GST from menstrual products garnered more than 100,000 signatures and reignited the long-running tampon tax debate.

"People who get periods don't buy pads and tampons for pleasure, so why are we forced to fork out an extra 10 per cent every two, three, four weeks?" petition founder Subeta Vimalarajah said.

"Taxing Australians for getting their period isn't just sexist, it's fundamentally unfair."

Appearing on the ABC's Q&A program, Mr Hockey agreed the GST "probably should" be removed from tampons, but in August ruled it out after a meeting with state and federal treasurers "failed to come to a unanimous agreement".

Following a request from the Federal Opposition, the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) in June estimated removing the tax on tampons would cost the budget $480 million over 10 years, or $70 million over the first two years of its operation from mid-2017.

Government 'not doing enough to address gender inequality'

Senator Waters, whose August petition to axe the tampon tax also collected more than 100,000 signatures, said the Government was still not doing enough to address gender inequality.

"There was no mention of the tampon tax in the COAG communique last week, showing the Coalition Government is failing to work to address this issue of blatant gender inequality," she said.

When contacted by the ABC, the Federal Treasury said the GST on tampons was "a matter for the states and territories to comment on".

Despite their sympathies, however, it seems the state governments — specifically Western Australia and New South Wales — are leading the push to keep the tax in place.

WA Treasurer Mike Nahan, who opposed removing the GST from feminine hygiene products at the August meeting, said the ongoing debate on the matter highlighted the complexity of the tax.

"The GST treatment of goods and services is not dependent upon whether they are considered to be essential or not, with a number of everyday items subject to GST, including electricity and gas services, baby nappies, toilet paper and toothbrushes," Dr Nahan told the ABC.

"The nuances in the application of GST can appear confusing and unfair, and are often caused by the extent of exemptions in the GST base.

"Minimising exemptions from the GST and ensuring that it applies to as broad a base as possible helps to keep the GST rate lower than it would otherwise be."

Dr Nahan said the GST was intended to be a broad-based consumption tax, with revenue distributed to the states as part of a wider range of reforms.

"Western Australia considers broader reform of the GST distribution process... to be our main priority," he said.

When contacted by the ABC, NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian reiterated a statement she made in August in which she opposed abolishing the tampon tax.

"Whilst I'm sympathetic to the sentiment, I don't support it," Ms Berejiklian said.

"We can't tinker with the GST with one-offs.

"We need to address these issues holistically."

Axing the tax around the world

Activist groups around the world have staged numerous campaigns over the years calling on governments to "axe the tax" on tampons, which in many countries are considered non-essential or luxury items.

Women wearing white pants gathered outside London's Palace of Westminster in November to "free-bleed" in protest of the European Union's 5 per cent "luxury tax" on tampons.

Charlie Edge and Ruth Howarth protest against the 'Tampon Tax' outside London Parliament House. ( Supplied: Facebook / Charlie Edge )

"People are so quick to tell people that the tampon tax is something we shouldn't be upset about ... But then they get upset when I show them the reality of the necessity of sanitary items," protester Charlie Edge wrote on Facebook.

"Maybe bleeding on their doorstep will get the Tories to do something about this?"

Canada removed the GST on sanitary napkins, sanitary belts and menstrual cups in July after several online petitions calling for an end to the tax amassed thousands of signatures.

"This is a victory for all women. It shows what a group of determined women and citizens can do," said New Democratic Party MP Irene Mathyssen, who sponsored a private member's bill on the matter.

"The women who made this an issue, their voices have finally been heard."