What is changing
In 2025, tobacco products sold in Australia will look different, taste different, feel different, be called something different, and will only be available in specific sizes and packaging.
These changes are a requirement of Australia’s new tobacco laws, which aim to protect Australians from the health harms of smoking.
In 2025, tobacco products will:
- Taste and feel different
Certain ingredients, flavours (including menthol, rum and clove) and accessories (including crush balls) will be banned. These mask the harshness of tobacco, make it more addictive, easier to smoke and harder to quit - Have different names
Words like ‘smooth’ and names like ‘gold’ – that can falsely suggest some products are less harmful – will be removed - Be consistent in size
Each cigarette pack will have 20 sticks, filtered or little cigar packs will have 20 cigars and roll-your-own pouches will have 30 grams of tobacco. Each cigarette carton must have 10 packs. This change will restrict the availability of multiple product sizes, which are often designed to appeal to and attract new users – particularly young people. - Be consistent in shape and filter
Each cigarette stick will be the same length and width. Unique filters will be banned. This change removes some product designs and features that may mislead people about how harmful smoking really is. - Have new health information and support to quit
Updated health warnings and messages will be applied to packaging and products. New information cards inside packaging will help support people to quit.
These changes may mean some products will no longer be available.
The changes do not reduce the health risk of smoking. No tobacco product or level of smoking is safe, and all tobacco is addictive.
Changes to tobacco products in 2025 - Information for people who smoke
Why it is changing
Australia’s tobacco control measures, both regulatory and non-regulatory, have helped to reduce smoking rates. Australia has one of the lowest smoking rates in the world. However, tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable death among Australians.
Smoking is estimated to kill more than 24,000 Australians each year. This means one person dies from smoking every 22 minutes.
Many Australians who smoke want to quit but struggle with nicotine addiction.
These changes will reduce the appeal of cigarettes and other tobacco products and ensure the harms of smoking are clear. This will help make it easier for people to quit smoking, stay quit, and not start in the first place.
This approach is in line with Australia’s National Tobacco Strategy 2023-2030 and has been modelled on international best practice.
Ban on menthol products
Menthol cigarettes and menthol accessories, such as crush balls, will no longer be sold in Australia from 1 July 2025.
The decision to ban menthol comes from strong evidence that menthol makes smoking easier to start – especially for young people –and harder to quit.
Menthol does this by:
- Masking the harshness of smoke: It triggers a cold feeling and dulls pain receptors in the mouth and throat, reducing the natural cough reflex triggered by harsh tobacco smoke. This makes it easier – especially for young people – to start smoking and get used to it.
- Making smoking easier: Menthol makes smoke feel smoother, allowing the smoke to be inhaled more easily, drawing more toxic chemicals into the lungs.
- Increasing addiction: It makes people more addicted by increasing the effects of nicotine in the brain.
- Making it harder to quit: Menthol smokers are more likely than non-menthol smokers to:
- have a strong craving for a cigarette after not smoking for a while
- smoke within the first five minutes after waking
- wake at night to smoke.
Australia is not alone. Other places like Canada and the European Union have already implemented a ban on menthol products. The ban aims to reduce tobacco-related disease and premature death by making it harder to start smoking and easier to quit.
Quit support
Quitting isn’t always easy, but the results are worth it and there is lots of support available to help you.
There’s never been a better time to quit. You can start your quit journey today by:
- talking to your doctor, pharmacist or other health professional for support and advice on what options are available to help you quit, including medications which may help to reduce withdrawal symptoms
- visiting Quit.org.au for information, tools and a range of support options
- calling the Quitline on 13 QUIT (13 7848) for confidential free advice from professional counsellors on how to quit smoking or vaping
- downloading My QuitBuddy, a free smartphone app designed to help you every step of the way. My QuitBuddy offers both smoking and vaping quit support, distractions from cravings and allows you to connect with others who are also quitting.