Hunt for the greatest dunnies

The Continence Foundation of Australia is asking for submissions to find Australia’s best public toilets as part of this year’s much-loved Great Dunny Hunt.

Taken for granted by many, awareness and access to quality public toilets is a huge consideration for those living with incontinence, who may find it difficult to leave their home for everyday activities due to the fear of not having access to appropriate facilities.

For this year’s hunt, Australians are being asked to take pictures of their favourite public dunny and upload them to the National Public Toilet Map (NPTM) website or app, as well as update any public toilet facilities.

The general public are encouraged to upload their pictures to go into the running to find the best public Aussie toilets from Monday 3 April to World Continence Week, which will be held from Monday 19 June, 2023.

Pics will be judged to find the best public Aussie toilets with honourable mention awards given to the most colourful dunny and the dunny in the most unusual location.

Among the judging panel of public toilet experts will be Sean Burford who won the title of Australia’s Greatest Dunny Hunter in 2022 by entering over 129 dunnies on The National Public Toilet Map, and Katherine Webber from Brisbane who was awarded the 2018 Rodney Warmington Churchill Fellowship to increase inclusion and accessibility in public toilets by researching taboos, design, policy and legal barriers.

Encouraging all Aussies to take a moment to enter as they are travelling during the upcoming holidays, Burford says, “when you’re out and about, it’s a great opportunity to find nearby facilities and check that the information about accessibility is up to date on the map. A good photo showing accessibility really is worth a thousand words.”

While over 21,000 public toilets are listed on the map, only 3,000 facilities have photos currently listed. With many locations still missing pictures, the photo entries for the country’s best dunnies will be extremely beneficial for the one in four Australians who experience incontinence as well as the 38% of people living with a disability who are experiencing incontinence.

“With the last two Great Dunny Hunts receiving fantastic nationwide support, we’re very excited to see the impact the updated pictures will have on the thousands of Australians experiencing incontinence by identifying nearby toilet facilities that suit their individual needs,” said Rowan Cockerell, CEO of the Continence Foundation of Australia.

While also supporting individuals in need, Australians who enter photos of their favourite public toilets will go into the draw to win one of three $500 Eftpos gift vouchers.

Dunny hunters can upload their submissions to The National Public Toilet Map and will be judged on photos that clearly show the outside of the public toilet and available features and facilities such as adult change facilities, ambulant facilities, drinking water, and sharps disposal.

For more information, visit www.continence.org.au/great-dunny-hunt and www.toiletmap.gov.au.