We have created this page in line with new tobacco legislation. Find out more about the reporting requirements, and how they will affect you.
About the requirements
The tobacco reporting requirements are set out in the:
- Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Act 2023 (the Act)
- Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Regulations 2024.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you are complying with the legislation. To assist you in understanding the new laws, the department has produced guidance material on the requirements under the new laws.
Why the requirements are important
The tobacco product reporting requirements aim to improve public health in Australia by:
- increasing the transparency of tobacco industry practices
- supporting policy development for tobacco control measures.
They do this by:
- providing information on sales volumes and pricing for specific brands and products. This will improve the targeting of tobacco control policies and improve measurement and evaluation of policy impacts
- providing information on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship activities and expenditure. This supports the ability to track trends and ensure comprehensive advertising prohibitions
- providing information on tobacco product ingredients to inform government policy development and enhance public awareness of (and access to information regarding) the adverse health consequences of tobacco use and the benefits of cessation of tobacco use
- giving effect to certain obligations Australia has as a party to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
How to meet the requirements
All manufacturers and importers of tobacco products should ensure they understand their reporting obligations under legislation.
Chapter 5 of the Act requires certain manufacturers and importers of tobacco products to give to the Secretary of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing the following reports for each financial year:
- a report identifying the ingredients used in manufacturing tobacco products
- a report providing information relating to the volume of tobacco products imported into, or sold or supplied in, Australia
- a report providing information about the entity’s marketing and promotional expenditure.
The required contents of the reports are set out in detail in the Act and Regulations.
The first reports are due 30 July 2025, being 30 days after the end of the 2024–25 financial year. The first report will relate to the 2024–25 financial year.
However, as the reporting framework—including the prescription of the manner and form of reporting—is new to the industry, an extension option is available. Reporting entities may seek additional time to comply with the reporting requirements. Further guidance, including access to an extension request form is included below.
Future reports will be due by 30 July each year and encompass information that relates to the previous financial year. For example, a report for financial year 2025-26 is due on 30 July 2026, a report for financial year 2026–27 is due on 30 July 2027 and so forth.
Request for extension of time
A reporting entity may apply in writing for an extension to the period in which to give a report.
The application form for extension of time requests for the 2024-25 reporting period is available.
Please note that some sections in the 2024-25 application form have been prefilled to reflect that as the reporting framework—including the prescription of the manner and form of reporting—is new to the industry, an extension option is available.
Applications for extensions of time must be submitted via the following email address: tobaccoreporting@health.gov.au.
Please ensure that you seek the extension of time prior to the date the report is due. A failure to do so may result in your application being found to be invalid.
Manner and form of reporting
The manner and form in which reports must be provided to the Secretary has been prescribed. This means reports must be in the form of the templates published on the Department's website.
The reporting templates can be downloaded:
- Tobacco product ingredients report
- Tobacco product volumes report
- Tobacco product marketing and promotional expenditure report
Details on how to complete the templates can be found in the introduction tab of each template.
Please refer to the Privacy Collection Statement for details on privacy and how personal information will be handled. Within the reporting templates please do not provide any personal information other than the personal information required by the reporting templates.
Submission of report
You must submit reports via the Department’s secure SharePoint facility. Entities that are required to provide reports will receive correspondence including a unique link through which they can securely submit the required reports. If you have not received correspondence regarding reporting and believe that you should have please contact tobaccoreporting@health.gov.au.
Please note the reporting templates include inbuilt data validation checks. If your reports include data validation errors when submitted, you will receive a notification email identifying that your submission was unsuccessful and detailing the data validation errors that must be addressed. Please ensure that you rectify any errors as soon as possible and seek an extension of time to submit the reports if necessary. Failure to submit a report by the required time may otherwise constitute an offence under the Act. If the submission of your report is successful you will receive a submission confirmation email.
If you encounter issues completing the reporting template, you can contact us at tobaccoreporting@health.gov.au.
Publication of reports
The Minister must publish each report given by a reporting entity required by the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) legislation unless the Minister is satisfied that it is not appropriate to do so. The Minister may also decide to publish information about a reporting entity's non-compliance with reporting requirements .
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