Youth smoking in Australia
It is illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18.
(Source: Tobacco Act 1987, Victoria)
8 out of 10 new smokers are children or adolescents.
(Source: M. Winstanley, S. Woodward and N. Walker Tobacco in Australia Facts and Issues)
70, 000 young people start smoking in Australia every year - that's about 191 a day.
(Source: M. Winstanley, S. Woodward and N. Walker Tobacco in Australia Facts and Issues)
In 1996 about 276,000 school students aged between 12 and 17 were smokers. If all of these students continued to smoke, 138,000 would die prematurely from their smoking.
(Source: David Hill, Victoria White and Tessa Letcher, Centre for Behavioural Research Into Cancer Tobacco use among Australian secondary students published in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health)
The value of the cigarettes smoked by adolescents in 1996 was about $100 million. Of this, manufacturers received $18 million, government received about $64 million, and retailers received about $16 million.
(Source: David Hill, Victoria White and Tessa Letcher, Centre for Behavioural Research Into Cancer Tobacco use among Australian secondary students published in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health Vol 23 No 3 1999)
Early uptake of smoking is associated with heavier smoking patterns, a lesser likelihood of quitting, and a higher probability of becoming ill from a smoking related disease.
(Source: M. Winstanley, S. Woodward and N. Walker Tobacco in Australia Facts and Issues)
A child who starts smoking at 14 years or less is 5 times more likely to die of lung cancer than a person who starts aged 24, and 15 times more likely than someone who has never smoked.
(Source: M. Winstanley, S. Woodward and N. Walker Tobacco in Australia Facts and Issues)
The cigarettes most commonly bought by the adolescent market are Peter Jackson 30's.
(Source: Centre for Behavioural research into Cancer)
Over half of the children who purchase cigarettes buy them from milk bars.
(Source: Centre for Behavioural Research into Cancer)