Social media videos

Download and share these videos on your social media channels to help raise awareness of the support services available to help young people quit vapes.

Escape the vape: support to quit vaping

00:32

Once a young person decides they want to quit vaping, helping them find support like the My Quit Buddy app can help them succeed.

They can also talk to a professional Quit Line counsellor about vaping and how to quit.

You can get advice on what you can do as a parent or carer too.

For more information or to get help to quit, visit health.gov.au/vaping. 

Escape the vape: get the facts about vaping

1:02

Vaping is using an e-cigarrete or ‘vape’, a battery operated device that can look like cigarettes, cigars, pipes, highlighters or a USB.

The aerosol (mist or vapor) from vapes is made from heating liquid chemicals that are then inhaled.

Illegal vapes often have flavours added to the e-liquid and this can make them smell and taste sweet.

It's the sweet flavours that appeal to young people.

Over 200 unique chemicals have been found in illegal vapes, including formaldehyde, nicotine and heavy metals.

Most vapes in Australia contain nicotine, even when the packaging says they don't, and nicotine is addictive.

In young people. nicotine can harm brain development and affect attention, learning, memory and mood.

For more information or to get help to quit, visit health.gov.au/vaping.

Escape the vape: a conversation guide for parents and carers

3:00

Don't be confused by the lingo.

Vapes, mods, E cigs and vape pens are all forms of E cigarettes.

14 to 24 year olds today are the 1st generation to be exposed to nicotine largely through vaping rather than cigarettes.

One in three teenagers have tried vaping and about one in five are currently vaping.

This guide will help you approach the topic of vaping with your child or a young person you care about.

Starting a conversation about vaping might feel tricky, but it's important. Get ready to listen and talk without judgement, be curious and interested in their thoughts and feelings, and provide a safe environment for two way conversation.

But first, let's get the facts about vaping.

Vaping is using an e-cigarrete or vape, a battery operated device that can look like cigarettes, cigars, pipes, highlighters or a USB.

The aerosol, mist or vapor from vapes is made from heating liquid chemicals that are then inhaled.

Illegal vapes often have flavours added to the E liquid and this can make them smell and taste sweet.

It's the sweet flavours that appeal to young people.

Over 200 unique chemicals have been found in illegal vapes, including formaldehyde, nicotine and heavy metals.

Most vapes in Australia contain nicotine, even when the packaging says they don't, and nicotine is addictive.

In young people, nicotine can harm brain development and affect attention, learning, memory and mood.

Here are some tips to help you start talking about vaping.

Choose the right time and place.

Pick a time to chat when you and your child are not rushed and find a place where you are both relaxed.

Don't make assumptions if you think they may have tried vaping.

Avoid making accusations and focus on the facts.

Avoid judging or lecturing.

Be prepared to listen to their point of view and have a two way conversation and ask open-ended questions that encourage a conversation rather than trying to say all the right things the first time.

Consider your conversations a work in progress, like trying to quit vaping.

It might take a few goes, but once you start talking to each other, it is easier to keep talking openly.

During the conversation, remember to listen actively, provide accurate information, and don't exaggerate.

Talk about peer pressure, health, and take time to explain your concerns.

Once a young person decides they want to quit vaping, helping them find support like the My Quit Buddy app can help them succeed.

They can also talk to a professional Quit Line counsellor about vaping and how to quit.

You can get advice on what you can do as a parent or carer too.

For more information or to get help to quit, visit health.gov.au/vaping.

Social media story ‘Wake and Vape’

00:12

If we're vaping as soon as we wake, why are we still doing this?

Let's join the thousands quitting vapes.

Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra.

15 second advertisement 'Lost Vape'

00:15

If we’re panicking over a lost vape …

Why are we still doing this?

Let’s join the thousands quitting vapes.

Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra.

What’s really in a vape?

00:55

[[Voice over] Are you a part of vape nation? Well, this kind of thing has all happened before. 

[Voice from historical TV smoking advertisement] What cigarette do you smoke, doctor?

[Voice over] So, back in the 1920s, big tobacco used the women’s liberation movement, doctors, Santa and movie stars to make cigarettes appear cool and healthy to profit from the masses. 

And here we are in the vaping generation. But what’s really inside a vape?

Inhaling a vape pulls liquid from the fluid reservoir through a battery-powered heating coil, transforming liquid to aerosol. So what’s going into your lungs?

Well, a vape may have these chemicals, like propylene glycol, acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, styrene, benzine, metals, ultrafine particles trapped in your lungs, and an oral fixation addiction to a nicotine hit that you keep chasing more and more of.

Is this what you really want?

So instead, choose healthy habits: exercise; make friends who want the best for you; look for something more than a quick fix. Spit the dummy, don’t let vaping be your ick.]

Dr Anthea Rhodes on nicotine addiction and withdrawal

1:20

I'm Doctor Anthea Rhodes, I'm a developmental paediatrician and a public health researcher.

Vaping is harmful to your health in a number of ways.

And also because most vapes contain nicotine and this is a really addictive drug that is designed to make you want more and make it hard for you to stop.

Nicotine addiction can actually be really hard to spot sometimes. 

It can be hard for people to even recognise it in themselves.

But the sorts of things you might notice in someone around you who's perhaps addicted to nicotine is really searching quite urgently for that next vape.

Looking for it straight away in the morning when they first wake up.

Or perhaps leaving a social situation where they seem to be having a good time but really have to step away because they need the next vape.

Also spending a lot of money, perhaps when they can't afford it, on vaping products.

Signs of nicotine withdrawal - so they're things like agitation, nausea or upset stomach, difficulty concentrating, irritability. All of those things can be clues.

Vox pop: Francisco Phillips – Are people still vaping & are they trying to quit?

01:53

Choose, choose to be hotter every day.

By quitting the vape.

By quitting the vape.

OK.

Alright, guys, we're out here in Manly, and we’re gonna find out if people are still vaping and are they trying to quit?

What are the strategies that they're using and is it working?

Do you vape?

No, but I used to back home.

OK.

Yeah.

So you've quit?

Yeah, I quit.

Yes, yes, I do.

How often are you vaping?

Daily, I guess.

How often are you guys vaping?

Pretty often.

Every day.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, never vaped?

No.

Do you vape?

Nah, not at all.

Not at all, never vaped?

I've had like two puffs.

Yeah, yeah, was that like kind of peer pressure sort of thing?

Nah, not peer pressure, just wanted to try it.

Just curious?

Yeah.

And you didn't find it appealing at all?

Nah, coughed me lungs out, so never again.

Yeah, it's totally fair.

I do, yeah.

How often are you vaping?

On the weekends.

Everyday.

What are the like the strategies or the things that helped you quit?

I literally just woke up, it was about two years ago and I was like, why am I doing this? So I just literally went cold turkey and never vaped again.

I had to quit 'cause I started like struggling to breathe while playing footy.

I felt like it was just not yeah, it's not attractive thing.

Yeah, yeah.

What was the hardest thing about quitting?

Probably, probably I feel like I need to hit it.

Like, was it hard quitting at first?

It was really hard.

Yeah.

It was really bad.

When they try and quit, you go on a night out and everyone's vaping.

Yeah.

So it's really easy to say ‘can have a bit of that?’ and then they’ll go and buy their own vape again. All my friends have found it quite hard.

Yeah.

If you were to give them some advice or tips to try to quit vaping, is there anything, you know, that works or?

So I started eating gum a lot.

Yeah.

And I found it was a good, like, substitute sort of thing.

Yeah, awesome.

Patches.

OK. Like, as in, like, patches on the arms?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Cool, cool.

Yeah don't buy one. Normally helps.

Yeah, step one.

There you go. Don't buy a vape. Yeah, that's a great step one.

Yeah.

Have you heard of the My Quit Buddy app?

No.

It's kind of a government funded app which pretty much works to help you, like, track your progress, set goals, join a community as well to like, learn about who else has got some good stories and how they quit and they can share tips as well.

Yeah, sounds awesome.

Well, it seems like you don't really need the app though. You already quit. 

No. 

Good work on you. 

Pass it on. 

Yeah, exactly. Pass the app on to your friends, there you go.

Escape the vape: having the conversation about vaping 

00:39

Rather than trying to say all the right things the first time, consider your conversations a work in progress.

Like trying to quit vaping, it might take a few goes, but once you start talking to each other, it is easier to keep talking openly.

During the conversation, remember to listen actively, provide accurate information and don't exaggerate.

Talk about peer pressure, health and take time to explain your concerns.

For more information, information or to get help to quit, visit health.gov.au/vaping. 

Escape the vape: four tips for talking about vaping

00:43

Here are some tips to help you start talking about vaping.

1 – choose the right time and place. Pick a time to chat when you and your child are not rushed and find a place where you are both relaxed.

2 – Don't make assumptions. If you think they may have tried vaping, avoid making accusations and focus on the facts.

3 – Avoid judging or lecturing. Be prepared to listen to their point of view and have a two way conversation.

4 – Ask open-ended questions that encourage a conversation.

For more information or to get help to quit, visit health.gov.au/vaping.

Social media story ‘Vaping in the bedroom’

00:12

If vaping is always on our mind, why are we still doing this?

Let's join the thousands quitting vapes.

Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra.

15 second video advertisement 'Fitness Goals'

00:15

See ya!

If vaping is holding our fitness goals back …

Why are we still doing this?

Let’s join the thousands quitting vapes.

Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra.

30 second video advertisement ‘Lost Vape’

00:30

We just did it casually at the start.

But we started buying our own.

And doing it in private.

Or was it in secret?

When did it become compulsive?

Necessary, even?

See ya!

Maybe it’s time to ask:

Why are we still doing this?

Let’s join the thousands quitting vapes.

Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra.

Dr Anthea Rhodes shares advice for finding support to quit vaping

01:12

I'm Doctor Anthea Rhodes, I'm a developmental paediatrician and a public health researcher.

It can be really hard to quit vaping for a few reasons.

Firstly, it's everywhere and it might be really difficult to switch off from those opportunities around you to pick up a vape.

And also because most vapes contain nicotine and this is a really addictive drug that is designed to make you want more and make it hard for you to stop.

So the first thing I'd say is you don't have to do it on your own.

Reach out to someone you trust.

It might be someone at school, it might be someone at home, it might be your GP or another healthcare professional.

Call Quitline. There are lots of experts there whose whole job is to help you work through the difficulties of quitting.

And also there's the My Quit Buddy app, which is a really handy way to have regular reminders and tips to actually set goals and help you get through that quitting journey.

And you may not get there the first time.

That's really normal.

Go back, try again with added support each time you get closer to quitting.

Dr Anthea Rhodes on the harms of vaping

01:29

I'm Doctor Anthea Rhodes.

I'm a developmental paediatrician and a public health researcher.

I lead a project called the Child Health Poll, where we ask parents and families across Australia about current child health issues and challenges and in the last five years, vaping has come up a lot.

Vaping is harmful to your health in a number of ways.

The first main way relates to the lungs.

So when someone vapes, they breathe in a lot of tiny, tiny chemicals that have been aerosolised by the vaping device and those chemicals are irritating to the lungs, so that can show up in things like breathlessness or persistent cough.

So the other main way that vapes cause harm is from nicotine, and this is the addictive substance contained in most vape liquid.

And that has an impact on the brain, and it's particularly bad for brains in teenagers and young adults.

That's because when the brain is developing, really the system of messaging that goes between the brain cells and parts of the body is still developing.

And if you interrupt that system with a chemical like nicotine, you can rewire it in some way.

And that means that young person is at a much greater risk of addiction in the 1st place and in fact lifelong addiction and use.

Help us improve health.gov.au

If you would like a response please use the enquiries form instead.