Western Australian health professionals are hopeful that amendments to the state’s Tobacco Products Control Act could have a positive impact on the overall health of the community.
Premier Roger Cook this week announced long-awaited legislation designed to stamp out the illicit tobacco and vape trade would be introduced to Parliament on February 17.
He said the laws were designed to drive those making money out of black market sales out of business.
It is hoped reforms would significantly strengthen compliance and enforcement. Measures focused on public health, licensing and administrative matters would be released in the second tranche of amendments later in the year.
The proposed legislation includes capabilities to shut down businesses found to be selling illicit tobacco and vaping products.
It proposes maximum penalties of $4.2 million for an individual or $21 million for a company found to be in possession of a large commercial quantity of illicit tobacco and vaping products, as well as 15 years imprisonment.
The changes would also see stores supplying illegal products closed for up to 90 days to ensure businesses would not be able to operate while investigations took place.
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Professor Jonine Jancey, director of the Centre for Evidence, Impact and Research in Public Health at Curtin University, welcomed the legislation.
“These reforms finally give authorities the tools to disrupt this trade, which is undermining public health,” she said.
“The legislation aligns with what research tells us about effective prevention, which is that limiting access to vapes and tobacco reduces use and uptake, preventing harm, particularly among vulnerable young people.”
AMA (WA) President Dr Kyle Hoath said the Association supports legislation targeted at tobacco sales, illicit or otherwise, that results in improved public health.
“Illegal trade in cigarettes and vapes undermines the very efforts made over decades to curb rates of smoking in the community,” he said.
“There is a significant benefit to society from minimisation and prevention strategies. Shockingly, in 2024-25, there were 12,924 tobacco-attributable hospitalisations amounting to 64,997 beds in WA.”
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Dr Hoath said price points and plain packaging had been effective deterrents to those considering taking up a smoking habit, but added more could always be done.
“Minimising the illegal trade in cigarettes, while continuing and expanding our public health measures, has the potential to provide far-reaching benefits for current and future generations of Western Australians,” he said.
Last year the Australian Council on Smoking and Health’s (ACOSH) National Tobacco Scorecard gave WA a grade of ‘D’ – second only to the Northern Territory as the worst performer in regard to tobacco and vape reform.
Health Minister Meredith Hammat said the state government had looked at what was working in other jurisdictions, and how WA could replicate and expand on those measures.
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