Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Dolls… Not exactly a topic that I would ordinarily talk about, but over the last year or so, a number of you have made comment on the recent range of inclusive children’s dolls at Kmart. Who needs a dad when you’ve got Kmart? The most prominent doll that I’ve seen in person is this one: Baby Oliver with Down Syndrome.
First, a disclaimer. I’m not here to attack people with disabilities. Of course not. I’ve grown up with close family members who have physical and intellectual disabilities, and continue to interact with the disability community to this day. This is not an indictment of disabled people, and I wish them all well. However, I am here to critique Kmart’s motives here.
To be fair, Target also has this range—for example, Baby Lucy with Down Syndrome.
That’s not too surprising as both Kmart and Target are owned by Wesfarmers. Wesfarmers, among other things, publicly supported and donated millions of dollars towards the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, the one that Australians ultimately voted against.
Here are some more dolls they stock with disabilities: one with a prosthetic leg, one with crutches, a blind doll—sorry, one with “vision diversity,” as recommended in Ambulance Victoria’s Inclusive Language Guide—and one with a hearing impairment. There’s also one that comes in a wheelchair.
There are female dentist, teacher, and doctor dolls.
Surprisingly, though, there’s no female sewer cleaner doll. I don’t know why.
So they’ve included some disabilities, but seemingly not others. What about children with leukaemia? I mean, leukaemia is the most common childhood cancer—why not have a doll to represent them? What about a doll of conjoined twins joined at the head? I mean, that happens, too. What about a leprosy doll? Why aren’t Kmart representing people with severe illness? I’d like to see “Diabetes Dan” who comes with three syringes of insulin. Yes, I know, I should become a doll designer.
But this begs the question: Why are Kmart doing this? I’m not a businessman, but I think I have a good dose of common sense. Are these dolls really marketable? Are Kmart really selling a whole bunch of Lucy with Down Syndrome? Every time I’ve been to Kmart, the shelves seem to be full. I’d suspect there’s very little market for these types of dolls, and as I said, I’m not here to throw shade at people with Down Syndrome, but Kmart is a business. Their primary responsibility is to their shareholders—that is, to maximise profits and return value for the people who own the company. Is this what they’re achieving by stocking dolls with hearing aids?
So why are they doing it? I’d suspect the only reason they’re doing it is to show how open they are to “diversity.” In their corporate world, it’s a small price to pay to show how “virtuous” they are. Look at us, we’re an inclusive company, even if we can’t sell any of this stuff.
But there’s one type of doll that I think they have specifically excluded. Can you guess what type? An Aboriginal doll.
In the blind pursuit of being inclusive, why have they not included one? I think I know why. I think Kmart knows if they started stocking cheap, mass-produced Aboriginal dolls (probably made overseas), Aboriginal groups would become incensed. They would demand that Kmart stop producing inauthentic, culturally inappropriate depictions of Aboriginal people that perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Or more likely, they would demand a cut of the profits. So, I think Kmart has put this in the too-hard basket.
Consequently, there are no Aboriginal dolls at Kmart due to fears of a cultural backlash. Yet, they’re happy to stock cheap, mass-produced dolls with missing legs or Down Syndrome. It shows just how cheap their ethics really are.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
Dolls… Not exactly a topic that I would ordinarily talk about, but over the last year or so, a number of you have made comment on the recent range of inclusive children’s dolls at Kmart. Who needs a dad when you’ve got Kmart? The most prominent doll that I’ve seen in person is this one: Baby Oliver with Down Syndrome.
First, a disclaimer. I’m not here to attack people with disabilities. Of course not. I’ve grown up with close family members who have physical and intellectual disabilities, and continue to interact with the disability community to this day. This is not an indictment of disabled people, and I wish them all well. However, I am here to critique Kmart’s motives here.
To be fair, Target also has this range—for example, Baby Lucy with Down Syndrome.
That’s not too surprising as both Kmart and Target are owned by Wesfarmers. Wesfarmers, among other things, publicly supported and donated millions of dollars towards the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, the one that Australians ultimately voted against.
Here are some more dolls they stock with disabilities: one with a prosthetic leg, one with crutches, a blind doll—sorry, one with “vision diversity,” as recommended in Ambulance Victoria’s Inclusive Language Guide—and one with a hearing impairment. There’s also one that comes in a wheelchair.
There are female dentist, teacher, and doctor dolls.
Surprisingly, though, there’s no female sewer cleaner doll. I don’t know why.
So they’ve included some disabilities, but seemingly not others. What about children with leukaemia? I mean, leukaemia is the most common childhood cancer—why not have a doll to represent them? What about a doll of conjoined twins joined at the head? I mean, that happens, too. What about a leprosy doll? Why aren’t Kmart representing people with severe illness? I’d like to see “Diabetes Dan” who comes with three syringes of insulin. Yes, I know, I should become a doll designer.
But this begs the question: Why are Kmart doing this? I’m not a businessman, but I think I have a good dose of common sense. Are these dolls really marketable? Are Kmart really selling a whole bunch of Lucy with Down Syndrome? Every time I’ve been to Kmart, the shelves seem to be full. I’d suspect there’s very little market for these types of dolls, and as I said, I’m not here to throw shade at people with Down Syndrome, but Kmart is a business. Their primary responsibility is to their shareholders—that is, to maximise profits and return value for the people who own the company. Is this what they’re achieving by stocking dolls with hearing aids?
So why are they doing it? I’d suspect the only reason they’re doing it is to show how open they are to “diversity.” In their corporate world, it’s a small price to pay to show how “virtuous” they are. Look at us, we’re an inclusive company, even if we can’t sell any of this stuff.
But there’s one type of doll that I think they have specifically excluded. Can you guess what type? An Aboriginal doll.
In the blind pursuit of being inclusive, why have they not included one? I think I know why. I think Kmart knows if they started stocking cheap, mass-produced Aboriginal dolls (probably made overseas), Aboriginal groups would become incensed. They would demand that Kmart stop producing inauthentic, culturally inappropriate depictions of Aboriginal people that perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Or more likely, they would demand a cut of the profits. So, I think Kmart has put this in the too-hard basket.
Consequently, there are no Aboriginal dolls at Kmart due to fears of a cultural backlash. Yet, they’re happy to stock cheap, mass-produced dolls with missing legs or Down Syndrome. It shows just how cheap their ethics really are.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
