Smoking, vaping and tobacco

Cigarettes contain tobacco, a drug usually breathed in as smoke. The main chemical in tobacco, nicotine, is highly addictive. Nicotine may also be found in e-cigarettes. Smoking and vaping cause preventable illness and death. Find help to quit smoking or vaping, or support someone close to you.

Learn about smoking and tobacco

Find out about smoking and tobacco – what they are and how they can affect you.

Learn about vaping and e-cigarettes

Vaping, or using e‑cigarettes, is sometimes used as a way to quit smoking, but there's limited evidence to show that they help – or are safe.

Effects of smoking

Discover how smoking and tobacco can affect your health and the health of those around you. Understand the impact on your finances.

Laws in Australia

Learn about Australia's e-cigarette, smoking and tobacco laws, including advertising bans, plain packaging conditions and regulations for supplying vapes. 

How to quit

Quitting smoking or vaping can be tough, but getting the right support will help make quitting easier.

Tobacco control

Learn about the laws that control the sale and advertising of tobacco products. Find out about plain packaging and the health warnings that must be used.

Register for updates

Get updates about the new Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Act 2023.

National Tobacco Strategy 2023–2030

A strategy to improve the health of all Australians by reducing the prevalence of tobacco use and its associated health, social, environmental and economic costs, and the inequalities it causes.

Find out more

Browse smoking, vaping and tobacco for

Pregnant women

Not smoking is the safest option when you're pregnant or breastfeeding.

Young people and smoking

What are the risks to your health and how to say 'no' to smokes. Learn what you can do as a parent or teacher.

Young people and vaping

Vapes are not safe for young people. Find out what you need to know and how to get help to quit.

Children

What are the risks of smoking around your children and what you can do as a parent or carer.

First Nations peoples

Find out what resources are available to reduce smoking in these communities.

Quitline

13 78 48

Contact Quitline for help to quit smoking and vaping. You can talk to a counsellor or request a callback. If you need language support, Quitline will connect you with an interpreter. The Quitline offers an online chat service in some states and territories and has resources for health professionals.

Did you know?

10.6%

of adults were daily smokers in 2022

11.8

cigarettes are smoked by daily smokers per day (on average)

79.2%

of young people aged 18 to 24 have never smoked

14.4%

of adults have vaped at least once in their life

6.8%

of young people aged 15 to 17 currently vape

38%

of young people aged 18 to 24 have vaped at least once

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics – National Health Survey, 2022

Resources

Resources

Guide to health warnings

This guide for manufacturers, packagers, suppliers and retailers of tobacco products will help them to meet the requirements of the legislation for tobacco products and packaging.

Guide to advertising and sponsorship prohibitions

Tobacco and e-cigarette advertising and sponsorship are prohibited under the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Act 2023. Find out why, learn more about the specific details, including any exceptions, and discover how we enforce the laws.