Australia has some of the world’s strictest vaping laws – but this hasn’t led to lower smoking rates.
That’s the key conclusion of a new expert review titled ‘A short history of e-cigarette policy in Australia,’ published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Smoking Cessation.
The report traces how Australia’s increasingly harsh restrictions – from a patchwork of state-level rules to a full national ban on vape sales outside pharmacies – have not curbed demand. Instead, they’ve driven vaping underground.
Black market thrives despite tough laws
Despite sweeping restrictions, vaping remains popular, especially among young Australians. The review notes that the country’s smoking rate – about 11 per cent – has stayed stubbornly high compared to other developed nations.
“Despite having one of the toughest e-cigarette regulations globally, Australia’s e-cigarette usage rates, especially among our young population, are high and comparable to other countries,” the authors observe.
This hardline approach to vapes is in sharp contrast to countries like Sweden, which has embraced safer nicotine alternatives as part of a harm reduction strategy.
Sweden’s smoke-free success
Sweden was recently declared officially “smoke-free,” which is defined by the World Health Organisation as fewer than five per cent of adults smoking daily. Swedish health authorities credit this achievement to the widespread use of alternative nicotine products, such as vapes, snus and nicotine pouches, which have helped smokers quit combustible cigarettes.
Australia, by contrast, has tightened restrictions year after year.
Australia’s vape crackdown began in earnest in October 2021, when nicotine vapes were made available only by prescription through pharmacies. New rules also introduced child-resistant packaging, mandatory ingredient lists, nicotine labelling, a maximum nicotine concentration of 100 mg/ml, bans on certain ingredients, and warning labels.
But rather than reducing demand, these measures triggered a surge in black market sales. Manufacturers began stripping nicotine labels from packaging to falsely market products as “nicotine-free” – while still supplying nicotine-containing vapes under the radar.
“As a result, the usage of e-cigarettes in Australia continued to increase… as nicotine-containing e-cigarettes were available to purchase around Australia without a prescription from a widespread illicit market,” the paper notes.
Crackdowns continue in 2024
In 2024, the Australian government doubled down. A January ban targeted the import of disposable vapes, primarily aiming to cut off access for children and young people. By March, the ban expanded to cover all non-therapeutic vapes.
June brought even stricter rules, including the prohibition of both nicotine and non-nicotine vape manufacturing, commercial possession, and supply within Australia with only narrow exemptions.
The Labour government backtracked slightly in October to gain support in Parliament from the Greens, ending the prescription-only requirement. While vapes remained legal only through pharmacies, no prescription was now needed. Still, many pharmacies refused to stock them, leaving adult vapers – many of them ex-smokers – with few legal options.
Do strict rules on vapes actually work?
The paper questions whether Australia’s repeated crackdowns are achieving the goal of improving public health. Youth vaping rates remain high, smoking rates are still well above those in more liberal countries, and the black market is thriving. Violent criminal gangs increasingly fight for control over the lucrative trade in tobacco and vapes.
“Only time will tell if these reforms… will have a substantial effect on lowering e-cigarette usage and uptake in Australia,” the review concludes.
