New Victorian data shows highest vaping prevalence in metro areas, highest smoking prevalence in regional areas

A new report from Cancer Council Victoria’s Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer (CBRC) shows a concerning prevalence of smoking and vaping across the Victorian community, broken down by local government areas (LGAs) and local public health units (LPHUs).  

The latest iteration of the Victorian Smoking and Health Survey 2022 shows highest smoking prevalence in Swan Hill, where 18.9% of adults currently smoke tobacco. While the City of Yarra in inner Melbourne has the highest vaping prevalence, with 10.7% of adult residents currently vaping.

Head of CBRC, Professor Sarah Durkin commented on the trends in the population-representative study.  

“Higher smoking in Victoria’s urban fringe, regional and rural areas is a concern. We know people from these areas are equally likely to try to quit, so the higher smoking prevalence is probably due to socioeconomic and cultural factors which make starting smoking easier and staying quit more difficult. In contrast, the metropolitan areas with lower smoking rates seem to have higher vaping rates. The greater presence of a younger demographic in these metro areas - the target of vaping influencers and a lot of other promotions for vapes - combined with easy accessibility at the time of the survey, likely explains the higher vaping prevalence in metropolitan Melbourne,” Professor Durkin said. 

Since the 2022 survey, significant progress has been made in vaping legislation to restrict access to and promotion of harmful, addictive vaping products not used for therapeutic purposes. From October this year, vapes can only be sold at a pharmacy from behind the counter following a consultation with a pharmacist. When this research was conducted, vape shops were still popping up all over the city, despite it being illegal to sell nicotine vapes to someone without a prescription. 

Quit Director, Rachael Andersen spoke about her hopes for the future taking into consideration the new vaping laws.  

“We know nicotine is such a powerfully addictive drug, and that addiction is hard to break. And we also know that the industry will continue trying to create products to addict young customers to nicotine. Getting vapes out of conventional retail settings, coupled with the right enforcement, ensuring they are only sold to people for therapeutic purposes, is the right thing to do.” 

Of the 79 LGAs in Victoria, 31 are in metropolitan Melbourne and 48 are classified as regional/rural. Broadly, the survey showed higher vaping rates in inner metropolitan Melbourne, and higher smoking rates in regional areas and on Melbourne’s urban fringe – in areas such as Hume (17.0% currently smoke) and Greater Dandenong (16.8% currently smoke). There is also considerable variation in smoking and vaping prevalence across LPHU catchments. 

Ms Andersen concluded by flagging the need for public health efforts and campaigns which address both smoking and vaping, considering the gateway effect between the two behaviours. 

“A recent study of Australian teens showed people who vape but have never smoked are at least five times as likely to take up smoking. So, while much of the media narrative of the past years has focused on vaping, if we stop educating the community on the harms of smoking and if we reduce support for quit smoking attempts, we risk seeing the areas with high vaping rate areas becoming high smoking rate areas in the future. And if we don’t address the stubbornly high smoking rates in outer Melbourne and regional areas, we risk seeing health inequities continue to widen,” Ms Andersen concluded. 

For support to stop smoking or vaping, connect with Quitline. message us on WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger @QuitVic, live chat through quit.org.au or request a call back at a time that suits you. From Mon – Fri 8am to 8pm qualified Quitline counsellors are ready to support you on your quitting journey. 

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Media Contact 
Prue Gildea Media Manager M: 0400 394 274 E: prue.gildea@cancervic.org.au