And which other states and territories need to pull their socks up before they find themselves in detention? See the results.
The Australian Council on Smoking & Health has released its national scorecard on which states and territories have been the most active in tacking tobacco and vape reforms.
The scorecard, which measures progress on nine key areas – including preventing illegal sales, investment in public education initiatives and how cozy jurisdictional governments are with the tobacco industry – has seen South Australia come out on top, with Queensland close behind. South Australia received an A+, while the Sunshine state received an A.
“In South Australia, there have been over 500 inspections conducted with closures of retailers who are doing the wrong thing and huge resourcing and investment into government taskforces that are seizing millions of dollars’ worth of illicit cigarettes and vapes,” said ACOSH CEO Laura Hunter.
“We’re also seeing the introduction of significant penalties in Queensland, with large-scale seizures and stronger enforcement.”
Tasmania was graded as next best (B), with New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT all getting a C. Western Australia got a D, while the Northern Territory got an F.
“The Tasmanian Government is showing progress by updating state legislation, however their funding commitment to public education and campaigns needs to be lifted and maintained at evidence-based levels,” the scorecard read.
“NSW has seen a lot of recent progress with the introduction of a positive licensing scheme to control the supply of tobacco across the state. Focus should now be on optimal resourcing for compliance and enforcement.
“The NT Government needs to urgently prioritise tobacco and vaping reforms and progress legislative changes. They have fallen well behind other jurisdictions and need immediate action.”
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Updates to state tobacco laws should be viewed as a priority, according to Ms Hunter.
“Without these, the federal legislation lacks the bite needed to drive real change,” she said.
Ms Hunter highlighted that ACOSH plans to repeat their assessment in 2026 to measure what, if any, changes the various jurisdictions make over the next 12 months.
“We cannot afford to get complacent, because behind closed doors, Big Tobacco has its sights set on one goal – to grow the next generation of addicts for their own financial gain, and at our expense,” she said.
