Action on unlawful vapes in South Australia

South Australia’s strong enforcement has seen thousands of unlawful vapes taken off the shelves and out of the hands of young Australians.

The Albanese Government’s world-leading vaping laws have been reinforced by strong action from the Malinauskas Government with $16 million invested in a new taskforce within Consumer and Business Services designed to detect and disrupt the supply of unlawful vapes.

More than 3,500 vapes have been seized through the efforts of SA enforcement officials since 1 July 2024 with more than 200 inspections, 450 tip offs and a series of raids conducted.

The total value of the illicit product seized including vapes and illegal tobacco in South Australia is approximately $680,000.
Sustained action at the border to seize illicit vapes continues to be backed by strong collaboration between the Commonwealth and states and territories across Australia.

Across the country more than 5.2 million illicit vapes and vaping products have been seized at the border so far this year. Of these, more than 2 million vapes have been seized since the commencement of the new vaping laws on 1 July 2024.
In coming week, further raids will be conducted by SA enforcement officials, officers of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

The TGA is also taking action in relation to unlawful advertising of vaping goods. Since 1 July 2024, 118 warnings have been issued to advertisers illegally promoting vaping goods and since the start of the year more than 8,000 requests to remove unlawful advertisements have been made to digital platforms and a further 58 websites have or will be blocked from public view for non-compliance. These actions reduce the ability of businesses to promote unlawful vapes to the community.

Joint Commonwealth and state and territory enforcement activity is being supported by the government’s Business Surrender Scheme.

The scheme enabled businesses to surrender specified quantities of vaping goods that were lawful prior to 1 July 2024 but are no longer lawful following the commencement of the Therapeutic Goods and Other Legislation Amendment (Vaping Reforms) Act 2024 on 1 July 2024. 

The scheme, which has now closed, saw SA businesses seeking to comply with the new legislation by surrendering vaping goods to the TGA. This initiative will facilitate the removal of thousands of unlawful vapes from the SA community.

Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:

“Our Government is keeping illegal vapes out of the hands of the next generation of young Australians.

“New research from the Cancer Council shows Australian teenagers who have vaped are five times more likely to try smoking.

“Alarmingly, 12-year-olds who had vaped were 29 times more likely to go on to try smoking than 12-year-olds who had not vaped.

“I am pleased with the strong commitment by states and territories, including the South Australian Government, to stamp out vapes being unlawfully supplied and thank them for their ongoing work.”
 
Quotes attributable to SA Health Minister Chris Picton:
 
“Vaping is a health crisis and we need to do everything we can to stamp it out.

“I am really concerned about the impact on young people, with new research showing the rate of 15 to 29-year-old South Australians vaping has nearly doubled in a year, from 8.4 per cent in 2022 to 15.1 per cent in 2023.

“Vapes have huge amounts of nicotine and a cocktail of nasty chemicals, leading to awful addiction problems for our young people. Parents have told me their kids are sleeping with vapes under their pillows and suffering all kinds of withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, lack of appetite and being unable to concentrate at school.”
 
Quotes attributable to SA Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs Andrea Michaels:
 
“The Malinauskas Government is continuing to tackle the significant public health threat posed by illicit tobacco and vapes and the criminals who sell them.

“We are working closely with the Commonwealth and national agencies to get these dangerous products off South Australian streets and out of the hands of our kids.

“There are more raids being conducted in South Australia this week to crack down on these illegal operations and we will continue to do everything we can to stop these people.”