Two students are making fresh calls for the Government to remove GST from women's sanitary items with an online petition which has more than 20,000 signatures.

Seventeen-year-old Whangaparaoa College students Melanie Wilcock and Rebecca Jacobs say GST makes it even harder for women to afford vital products, forcing some women to re-use sanitary items or go without.

Petition creator Rebecca Jacobs said the 15 per cent tax puts women at a financial disadvantage and the Government need to step in.

"It needs to be seen as a necessity and people can't afford feminine hygiene products, and if this GST was taken away, it would make products far more affordable."

Ms Jacobs said it has the potential to impact people's lives and "put their work income at risk".

"Many women find that they're unable to attend school or work if they can't afford these products, which means they get very far behind."

They had received a large amount of responses from members of the public, not all of whom supported the idea.

"One man, he said that it's too complicated to change the GST because in New Zealand it's 15 per cent on everything."

Ms Wilcock said she could respect the man's opinion, but wasn't sure if he was seeing the issue from all sides.

"He might not have daughters that he has to pay for sanitary products for, so maybe he doesn't know that perspective of it."

A statement from Minister for Revenue Judith Collins' office said New Zealand had a "world-leading GST system".

"The strength of our GST system, which is widely regarded as one of the best, is the fact that it's comprehensive and there are no exemptions.

"However, the Government is supporting young women's access to sanitary products through initiatives like the $50,000 in funding for KidsCan to provide 16,5000 packs to 2000 girls in need."

The students are aiming to get 100,000 signatures on their petition in 30 days so they can present it to Parliament.