Teenage vaping in Australia has ‘turned a corner’ after ban, study says

Vaping among school-age children has significantly reduced, the Australian government has said, citing a study, a year after a ban on disposable vapes.

Australian health minister Mark Butler on Wednesday said vaping rates "have now turned the corner" for young children, calling it a result of their 12-month campaign to crack down on the illegal sale of vapes.

The nationwide Generation Vape Research Project by Cancer Council conducted an anonymous survey of 3,000 young Australians.

Among children aged 14-17 years, vaping rates have fallen from 17.5 per cent to 14 per cent from the start of 2023 to April this year, it has found.

Overall, smoking rates among people aged over 15 fell by more than a third, while vaping rates among those aged 30 to 59 dropped by nearly half.

“Vaping rates for young Australians have now turned the corner. Our education and prevention campaigns as well as support to deter people from taking up vaping and smoking or to quit are making a difference”, Mr Butler said.

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Mr Butler said vaping products still "leak" through the border despite their crackdown.

"From the time we put this ban in place we never pretended we'd be able to stop every vape coming in," he said.

"But we do know that it is harder to get your hands on a disposable vape … that's led to a very significant increase in the price of vapes where they are still accessible, and that's having a positive impact on young people."

He said authorities have seized more than 10 million illegal vapes in the past year.

The Therapeutic Goods Authority and Australian Border Force (ABF) said the 10 million vapes – half a billon dollars worth of vapes – were taken off the market. Additional seizures included 2.5 billion cigarette sticks and 435 tonnes of illicit tobacco.

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"It's a market that targets our communities including our children," ABF Assistant Commissioner Tony Smith said.

"[It] sends profits into the hands of organised crime, profits that are used to cause further harm through intimidation tactics, arson, firearms, drugs and even cyber crime."

Laws introduced to curb vaping banned single-use vapes from being made, imported, advertised and supplied in 2024. Only nicotine vapes were allowed to be legally sold with a prescription in pharmacies.

The UK also banned the sale of disposable vapes in June this year.

Vaping was introduced as an alternative to smoking tobacco, but experts say they are not risk-free, and it has created a new generation of nicotine dependency in our community.