Australia's federal parliament passed strict smoking laws, requiring new graphic warnings on e-cigarettes to deter young people from smoking.

Australia's federal parliament has passed strict smoking laws, requiring new graphic warnings on e-cigarettes to deter young people from smoking. The law also prohibits the use of attractive names for e-cigarette products. Graphic warning labels on all cigarette packaging will be updated and extended to include e-cigarettes, and all tobacco packaging will undergo standardization, including the design and appearance of filters. The current advertising restrictions on cigarettes will also be expanded to encompass e-cigarettes. Health Minister Mark Butler stated that the changes to these smoking laws will save lives and help keep pace with the deceptive marketing tactics of big tobacco companies.

Approximately 20% of young people aged 18-24 in Australia use e-cigarettes, while around one in seven individuals aged 14-17 use these products. The government plans to ban the import of disposable e-cigarettes starting in early next year, but doctors and nurses will still be able to prescribe therapeutic e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool. From March next year, it will be illegal to import or supply e-cigarettes that do not meet medical regulatory agency standards.

Despite the government's ongoing efforts to reduce the national smoking rate to below 10% by 2025, the smoking rate among young people is on the rise due to e-cigarettes.