In the lead up to Global Handwashing Day 15 October 2026 the Food Safety Information Council has released its latest handwashing consumer research.

Lydia Buchtmann, Council CEO, said each year we have surveyed Australian consumers and asked whether they always wash their hands after going to the toilet and before handling food.

‘The last 2 years we have asked slightly different questions about whether they always washed their hands after a ‘pee’ or after a ‘poo’ and the surveys have come up with some interesting not to mention disturbing results,’ Ms Buchtmann said.

‘27% of men and 19% of women surveyed said they didn’t always wash their hands after a pee. But this is essential as toilets and bathrooms are also one of the favourite locations for harmful bacteria to hang out.

‘Of even more concern, 13% of men and 10% of women said they didn’t always wash their hands after a poo. This is really a worry as faeces may contain harmful bacteria, viruses and even parasites.

‘If you don’t wash your hands after going to the toilet you will be spreading the risk of diseases, especially in our latest survey 45% of men and 35% of women surveyed also admitted that they didn’t always wash their hands before handling food.

‘The Food Safety Information Council’s advice is to always wash and dry your hands

• before handling, preparing and eating food
• after touching raw meat, fish, seafood, shell eggs or poultry
• after using the toilet, attending to children’s (or others’) toileting, and changing nappies
• after blowing your nose
• after touching a pet, cleaning up animal pee, poo or vomit or cleaning cat litter trays
• after gardening.

‘Our advice is to follow these four simple tips for hand washing correctly:
1. Wet your hands and rub them together well to build up a good lather with soap for at least 20 seconds and don’t forget to wash between your fingers and under your nails. You might have to use a nail brush.
2. Rinse well under running water to remove the bad bugs from your hands.
3. Dry your hands thoroughly on a clean towel for at least 20 seconds. Touching surfaces with moist hands encourages bugs to spread from the surface to your hands.
4. If no running water is available use an alcohol gel hand rub.

The Food Safety Information Council would like to thank their member Accord Australasia who sponsored this research. Accord Australasia is the peak national industry association representing manufacturers and suppliers of hygiene, personal care and specialty products, their raw materials suppliers and service providers. Their industry’s products are used every day across the nation in homes, public places, commercial premises, institutions, industry and farms. https://accord.asn.au/

Media contact:
Lydia Buchtmann, Food Safety Information Council, 0407 626 688 or info@foodsafety.asn.au

Methodology

Survey was conducted nationally amongst 1239 people aged 18+. Respondents were drawn from the online consumer panel managed by Lightspeed Research, OmniPoll’s online partner sample quotas were set for each state, city and regional area, by sex and age. Interviews were conducted online over the period August 26-31, 2026.To help reflect the overall population distribution, results were post-weighted to Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census) data on education, age, sex and area.