Australian retailers should commit to mental health not profit from stigma
SANE Australia
SANE calls for retailers to walk the talk and remove offensive straitjacket Halloween costumes
SANE Australia is calling out corporate double standards as some of Australia's retailers continue to sell costumes that portray people living with complex mental health issues as “insane”, warning that charitable donations to mental health organisations must be matched by responsible business practices.
In 2024, a social media campaign by SANE prompted retailer Big W to remove stigmatising Halloween costumes from sale. Two years on, SANE is renewing its call to some of Australia’s biggest retailers to ensure these outdated and harmful stereotypes have no place in Halloween promotions.
Among the costumes of concern is the Rubie’s Insane Asylum straitjacket. The back of the costume carries the words, in capital letters: “MENTAL INSTITUTION. APPROACH WITH CAUTION.”
SANE CEO Rachel Green says it is unacceptable for businesses to publicly support mental health causes while continuing to profit from products that reinforce stigma.
“Donating to mental health charities is a positive step, but it cannot be the whole story. Businesses need to walk the talk and consider the impact of their own products, marketing and commercial decisions, Green says.
“Mental illness is not a costume. You cannot credibly champion mental health on one hand while selling stereotypes that undermine the dignity of people living with mental health issues on the other.
“Straitjackets are archaic, offensive and stigmatising. This can deepen discrimination and make it harder for people to seek the support they need.
“We are not anti-Halloween or anti-costume but there is a real impact here when someone is walking around the neighbourhood dressed up with a mental illness. We wouldn’t accept this kind of cos-play in any other context. The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.”
Findings from the 2026 National Stigma and Discrimination Report Card, published by the National Mental Health Commission, SANE and the University of Melbourne, show that discrimination remains a daily reality for many Australians.
The findings on schizophrenia were particularly confronting. People living with long-term schizophrenia were more likely to be viewed as dangerous, less reliable and less able to be loved than other people in society.
Sandy Jeffs OAM, SANE Ambassador, poet, author lives with schizophrenia and experienced life as a patient at Melbourne’s former Larundel Psychiatric Hospital. She says the straitjacket costume that pins people’s arms around their body are insulting.
“They turn the experiences of people who have lived with mental illness into a frightening caricature for entertainment and reinforce the idea that people with mental illness are dangerous and should be feared. We have come a long way in understanding mental health, yet these stereotypes continue to set us back.”
SANE’s 2024 campaign demonstrated that public pressure can prompt change. SANE is calling on retailers to remove stigmatising costumes from sale and take greater responsibility for the impact of their commercial decisions.
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About us:
SANE Australia is the national organisation for people with complex mental health and their carers, families and kin.
Contact details:
Interviews are available with Rachel Green, and people with lived experience of complex mental health issues. For media interviews, please contact Kellie Curtain on 0412 339 690.