The Albanese Government’s world leading vaping reforms will become a reality from this Monday 1 July, after the unanimous backing of the Senate and the passage of the Bill through Parliament.
From Monday, the sale, supply, manufacture, importation, and commercial possession of non-therapeutic vapes will be prohibited, with very serious penalties for those individuals and businesses that contravene the laws.
From 1 July, people seeking a therapeutic vape will need to have a conversation with their GP and get a prescription to buy a regulated therapeutic vape from their local pharmacy. People under 18 will always need to do this.
From 1 October, that conversation around health harms and risks can take place with a pharmacist, with no prescription needed.
The peak professional body for pharmacists, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, has recognised the need for strong action to end the retail supply of vapes, and said it will now work with the Government on the development of best practice guidelines for pharmacists.
Therapeutic vaping products will be behind the counter, nicotine concentrations and dispensing quantities will be tightly controlled, they will have plain pharmaceutical-like packaging, and flavours will be restricted to tobacco, menthol and mint.
Therapeutic vapes will have similar restrictions to other pharmacist-only products like the morning after pill, pseudoephedrine, allergy and asthma medications. Pharmacists will be required to check photo ID and, importantly, have a conversation with that person around the health harms of vaping.
Therapeutic vaping goods can only be imported into Australia if the importer has a licence and permission from the Office of Drug Control (ODC) and has notified the Therapeutic Goods Administration that the products comply with TGA standards:
- the TGA standard Therapeutic Goods (Standard for Therapeutic Vaping Goods) (TGO 110) Order 2021 (TGO 110); or
- the applicable essential principles, set out in the Therapeutic Goods (Medical Devices) Regulations 2002 (MD Regulations).
Australia’s world leading laws will return vapes and e-cigarettes to what they were originally sold to the Australian community and to governments around the world as: therapeutic products to help hardened smokers kick the habit.
From Monday, federal and state authorities in all jurisdictions will be able to enforce the laws, just as they have been enforcing the import controls that were implemented in the first three months of 2024. Since 1 January, almost 2.9 million vapes have been seized by the Australian Border Force and Therapeutic Goods Administration.
These laws protect young Australians and the broader community from the harms of recreational vaping, while ensuring that those who really need access to a therapeutic vape for help to quit smoking, can get one from their local pharmacy.
The laws have been welcomed by public health and school groups, including:
- The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
- The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia
- The Australian Medical Association
- The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
- The Cancer Council
- The Australian Council on Smoking and Health
- The Public Health Association of Australia
- The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand
- The Heart Foundation
- The Consumers Health Forum
- The Australian Council of State Schools Organisations.
The laws build on Labor’s world leading tobacco plain packaging reforms more than a decade ago, as well as the next generation of tobacco control laws that were passed through the Parliament in December last year.
Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:
“Recreational vaping is a scourge. It is a public health menace, particularly for children and for young people.
“A product that was presented as a therapeutic good that would help hardened smokers kick the habit finally, has actually been deployed by Big Tobacco as a tool to recruit a new generation to nicotine addiction.
“Every now and then, the Parliament has a real opportunity to do something meaningful and lasting for the health of young Australians and today was one of those days.”
“The best time to have done this was five years ago. The second-best time is right now.”
