What is a Singlet Bag? (Checkout and T-Shirt Bags)

A singlet bag is a plastic carry bag with two loop handles cut from the top edge, so the flat bag looks like a singlet or T-shirt. It is the classic Australian supermarket checkout bag, usually made from HDPE. QIS stocks it in a 37 micron gauge, and in a 40 micron Queensland compliant version.

Shop carry bags ↓

Why it is called a singlet bag

The name describes the shape. The bag is made as a plain tube with a sealed bottom, then a U-shaped notch is cut out of the top edge. What is left either side of that notch becomes two loop handles, and the piece of film between them becomes a low front and back panel. Lay the bag flat and the outline is a singlet, or a T-shirt without sleeves.

The same bag is sold under several names in Australia and overseas. You will see it called a checkout bag, a T-shirt bag, a vest bag, a singlet carry bag or simply a shopping bag. In Australian wholesale packaging, singlet bag and checkout bag are the usual trade terms, and the size is quoted in millimetres rather than by a size name alone.

How a singlet bag is made, and why HDPE

Singlet bags are blown as a tube of film, gusseted at the sides, sealed and cut across the bottom, then die cut at the top to form the handles. The side gusset is what lets a flat bag open into a square-ish shape and take a load without the handles pulling in.

Nearly all of them are made from HDPE, high density polyethylene. HDPE has a tightly packed molecular structure, which gives a thin film a high tensile strength for its weight. That is why a bag only a few dozen microns thick can carry several kilograms of groceries. HDPE film is also stiff and slightly translucent rather than soft and clear, which is where the familiar crinkly rustle comes from. LDPE film of the same thickness feels softer and stretchier, and is used for produce and freezer bags instead.

Singlet handle, die cut handle and patch handle

Three handle styles turn up on plastic carry bags, and they are not interchangeable.

• Singlet handle. Two loops cut from the bag itself. No extra material, no join, so it is the cheapest handle to make and the strongest per gram of film. Loops sit over the wrist or hang from a hook.
• Die cut handle. An oval hole punched through the top panels. Flat, tidy and used on boutique and retail bags, but it concentrates the load on a small area, so the film has to be thicker.
• Patch handle. A die cut handle with a reinforcing patch heat sealed behind the hole so the film does not tear. Used where the bag is thick and the load is heavy.

Singlet bag sizes and how they are quoted

Australian singlet bags are quoted as width x length, both in millimetres, with the side gusset listed separately. Width is the flat width of the bag across the front, length is measured from the bottom seal to the top of the handles, and the gusset is the total fold at each side. Size names such as small and large are only a shorthand, so always work from the millimetre figures.

Size	Width x length	Side gusset	Gauge	Carton
Small	200 x 400mm	100mm	37µm	1,500
Medium	250 x 500mm	120mm	37µm	1,000
Large	300 x 540mm	160mm	37µm	500
Extra large	320 x 640mm	Side gusseted	37µm	500
Large, QLD compliant	300 x 540mm	160mm	40µm	500
Extra large, QLD compliant	320 x 640mm	160mm	40µm	500

Australian plastic bag bans, state by state

There is no single national plastic bag ban in Australia. Each state and territory made its own law, the thresholds differ, and a bag that is perfectly legal in Brisbane cannot be handed out in Perth. This is the single most important thing to get right before you order. Rules below were checked in August 2026.

State or territory	What the shopping bag rule covers	Effect on singlet bags
New South Wales	Lightweight plastic shopping bags with handles at or under 35 microns are banned.	A singlet bag thicker than 35 microns is not caught by that ban.
Victoria	Lightweight plastic shopping bags with handles at or under 35 microns are banned.	A singlet bag thicker than 35 microns is not caught by that ban.
Tasmania	Lightweight plastic shopping bags with handles at or under 35 microns are banned.	A singlet bag thicker than 35 microns is not caught by that ban.
Queensland	Lightweight bags at or under 35 microns are banned. Since 1 September 2023 a compliant plastic shopping bag must be 35 microns or thicker, contain at least 80% verified recycled content, and carry 10kg for at least 125 uses under a recognised durability test.	Only a bag meeting all three conditions may be supplied. This is why QIS lists a separate QLD compliant range.
Western Australia	All plastic shopping bags with handles are banned regardless of thickness, including bioplastic film and plastic laminated paper bags.	No plastic singlet bag of any gauge can be supplied.
South Australia	Since 1 September 2024 all plastic film shopping bags are banned, including heavyweight and boutique bags, unless they are AS certified compostable and clearly labelled with the certification details.	No conventional plastic singlet bag can be supplied.
Australian Capital Territory	Lightweight bags under 35 microns were banned, and heavyweight or boutique bags over 35 microns were banned from 1 January 2024.	No plastic singlet bag can be supplied.
Northern Territory	Lightweight checkout style plastic shopping bags are banned. No micron figure is published in the official guidance.	Check the current NT guidance before supplying any plastic carry bag.

What a business can still legally hand out

Read the table above rather than the headlines. In New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland a thicker plastic carry bag is still legal, which is why compliant singlet bags remain a normal stock line for grocers, butchers, fruit shops and takeaway venues in those states. Queensland is the strictest of the four because thickness alone is not enough there: the recycled content and the durability test both have to be satisfied as well, so ask your supplier for the evidence, not just the micron figure.

In Western Australia, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, no ordinary plastic film carry bag with handles will do the job, whatever its gauge. The alternatives that work everywhere are paper carry bags, calico bags and reusable non woven polypropylene totes. South Australia also sets conditions on non woven polypropylene shopping bags relating to fabric weight and seam construction, so confirm the specification of any reusable bag before you send stock into that state.

One point that catches people out: these are shopping bag rules, and in Queensland and Western Australia they apply to bags with handles. Bags without handles, such as produce and barrier bags, dry cleaning bags and resealable storage bags, sit outside the shopping bag ban in those two jurisdictions. South Australia has separately banned plastic barrier bags since 1 September 2024, so the exemption is not universal. Because these rules keep moving, confirm the current position with your own state regulator before committing to a large order.

Related guides

For the material itself, read What is HDPE?, and for the thickness figure that every bag ban turns on, read What is a µm?. If you are moving customers onto reusable bags, What is NWPP? and What are calico bags made from? cover the two most common replacements.

Browse the full plastic checkout bag range or the reusable eco friendly bags. Every term on this site is indexed in the packaging glossary.

Not sure which bag your state allows? Contact our Brisbane team or call 1800 555 343 and we will match you to compliant stock.