Student smoking rates: Australia

In 2005, an estimated 140,000 boys and girls at school aged 12 to 17 years smoked over 3,450,000 cigarettes between them in the week before the survey. If they all continue to smoke, about 70,000 will die from smoking-related diseases.

Table 1 shows the estimated smoking rates for current smokers (defined as smoking in the past week) in 2005, for each sex and age group. Smoking becomes more common as students progress through secondary school. There is little difference between the smoking rates of boys and girls, except for 16 year olds where smoking was more common among girls than boys. On average, boys and girls smoked similar numbers of cigarettes per week.

Table 1 

Smoking among Australian school students in 2005
Smoked in the past week (%) (current smoker)	AGE	12	13	14	15	16	17	ALL
	Males	3	5	8	11	14	19	9
	Females	2	5	10	12	17	17	10
	Total	2	5	9	11	16	18	9

 

Figure 1 shows the percentages of 12 to 15 year olds and 16 to 17 year old school students who were current smokers, for the years 1984 to 2005.  This data does not include 16 and 17 year olds who have left school.  Between 1996 and 2005, there was a significant fall in smoking rates in all age groups.  The 2005 smoking rates were the lowest in the history of this survey.

Figure 1

 

Current smoking among Australian school students: 1984 to 2005

Source: White and Hayman 2006, published in Tobacco in Australia: Facts & Issues, 3^rd ed.

 

Table 2 shows percentages of 12 to 15 year olds and 16 to 17 year old school students who were current smokers, for the years 1999, 2002 and 2005.

Table 2

Current smoking among Australian school students: 1999 to 2005
Age group	Year	1999	2002	2005
12 - 15 year olds	Male	15	10	7
	Female	16	12	7
16 - 17 year olds	Male	30	21	16
	Female	29	25	17

Between 1999 and 2005 current smoking rates for Australian school students decreased by around 50% among younger students and by around 40% among older students.

The most popular brands smoked by students in 2005 were Winfield, Peter Jackson, and Longbeach. Between 1999 and 2005, tobacco company promotions for cigarette brands included point-of-sale advertising, gifts with purchase and sponsorship of Formula One motor racing. These forms of tobacco advertising are now restricted or banned in Australia, but the tobacco industry continues to promote their brands to young people through pack design, dance parties, nightclubs, fashion shows, email and the internet. Smoking in popular movies and television programs is also another way of promoting cigarette brands.

In 1997, the National Tobacco Campaign was launched. It included graphic television advertisements with the tagline 'Every cigarette is doing you damage.' Advertising continued through 1998 but received less funding and air-time from 1999 to 2005. Evaluation surveys of 12 to 17 year olds found most smokers in this age group thought the campaign was relevant to them, and that it made smoking seem less cool and desirable. It also found that quitting activity among smokers in this age group increased in response to the campaign.  While federal funding for mass media campaigns decreased between 2002 and 2005, funding increased at the State level.  Thus, in many states anti-tobacco advertising increased between 2002 and 2005.

In 1999, the Federal Government changed the way cigarettes were taxed, resulting in an increase in the price of cigarettes. This would have contributed to the fall in adolescent smoking rates. Between 1999 and 2005, many states enacted laws banning smoking in public places, such as restaurants and shopping centres. This may make smoking less acceptable and less socially desirable for young people.

Many factors influence tobacco use by adolescents, and tobacco control policies and mass media campaigns are only some of these factors. 

 

References

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