A series of new mandatory changes to cigarettes and tobacco products are coming into effect thanks to new laws Australia-wide instated today. And no, it’s not an April fools joke.
The legislation, The Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Act 2023, was initially passed in 2023 and sought to consolidate various tobacco-related laws. It also introduced a few new ones to discourage smoking, the use of tobacco products to restrict the promotion of vapes and e-cigarettes.
However, the act was set to commence on April 1 to give manufacturers and retailers time to adapt to the new guidelines.
As of April 1, all cigarettes will be the same length and size, and packaged in a standard carton. There will be updated warnings on the packaging to hopefully educate users on the risks of smoking, with the new packaging featuring one of ten new health warnings.
We will also soon see warnings printed directly on the cigarettes themselves.
Professor Sarah Durkin, Director of Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer at Cancer Council Victoria, believes that the updated messaging is an important move in deterring Australians from smoking.
“Graphic health warnings have long proven effective in increasing knowledge about the harms of smoking, preventing smoking uptake and encouraging people who smoke to quit,” she said.
“But evidence has shown that the effectiveness of the current warnings has decreased over time, as people have become accustomed to seeing the images.”
One of the biggest changes is that ingredients like menthol, which are used to make the cigarette taste better, have been banned, bringing Australia in line with the European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ethiopia and Turkey which have also banned menthol and flavoured cigarettes.
Menthol cigarettes — and other flavours packaged in little pop-able balls within the cigarette — are being banned because they have been shown to provide Australian youth a palatable pathway into smoking.
According to Rachael Anderson, the director of Quit — an organisation that helps people quit smoking — these changes will help educate people addicted to smoking about the risks.
“There’s no doubt quitting smoking can be hard, people tell us so all the time,” she explained.
“Our hope is that these new changes will provide new education to people who smoke about the harms at the same time as informing them of the supports to quit, acting as both a disincentive to smoke and a bridge to services such as Quitline and quit.org.au.”
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