About smoking and vaping
Smoking is burning something to breathe smoke into the lungs, such as a cigarette. Vaping is breathing in vapor from heated liquid.
Both smoking and vaping involve breathing in chemicals that can harm your health.
E-cigarettes or vapes heat liquid to create an aerosol that is breathed in, which is known as vaping. E-cigarettes can look like a highlighter, a pen or USB.
Contents of vaping liquid
There are no quality or safety standards for e-cigarettes, vapes or vaping liquids sold online or in stores like tobacconists and vape shops.
Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine which is harmful and addictive. Even those labelled nicotine-free can still contain nicotine.
The aerosol or vapor from e-cigarettes contains cancer-causing chemicals and heavy metals.
How vaping affects your child’s body
Vaping can cause significant harm to your child’s body:
- Short-term it can cause vomiting, nausea, coughing, shortness of breath, mouth irritation and asthma
- Long-term it can cause lung damage, heart disease and cancers.
E-cigarettes are still being studied, but most experts think it is likely vaping will cause lung and mouth cancers.
Nicotine is a poison that can make people sick if swallowed and has been linked to the deaths of small children.
Exposing children and teens to nicotine can harm their brain development and lead to higher risk of dependence. Children and teens who use e-cigarettes are more than three times more likely to move onto smoking cigarettes.
E-cigarettes can also explode and catch fire.
Protecting your child
Research shows that children are less likely to smoke or vape if their primary role models (typically parents or carers) do not smoke or vape.
If you have found quitting difficult and still smoke or vape, share your experiences with your child.
Ask your children for their support during your next quit attempt. If your child can witness how tough quitting can be, they may want to steer clear of smoking or vaping completely.
The best way to protect your children is to never smoke or vape in the house or other places where there may be children nearby.
Smoking or vaping in a car when children are present is illegal. Passive exposure to e-cigarette aerosol can be damaging for children and young people.
Vaping laws
Smoking and vaping is banned in and around schools
The Tobacco Act 1987 bans smoking or vaping on school premises or within 4 metres of any pedestrian access point to school premises. The smoking and vaping ban applies to:
- anyone present on school premises during and outside of school hours including students, teachers, and school visitors
- all activities that take place on school premises.
Smoking and vaping are also not permitted during school events and excursions held off school premises.
Health and retail laws
In Victoria, it is illegal:
- to sell, barter or exchange any type of tobacco or e-cigarette product to a person under 18 years of age
- to smoke or vape in a motor vehicle if a person under 18 years is also present in the motor vehicle.
E-cigarettes can only be sold in a pharmacy to an adult. You can report retailers selling e-cigarette products to children to your local council.
Talking to your child or teen about smoking and vaping
As a parent or carer, you have an important role in protecting your child from smoking and vaping. Parent views on smoking and vaping can influence their children’s behaviours. The most important thing you can do is to talk to your child or teen about smoking, vaping and other drugs.
Use these strategies to talk with your child or teen.
Start with information
Get the key facts, learn the basics about smoking and vaping products, and think through what you want to say. Consider some questions you might be asked, and how you want to respond.
Approach it calmly
Start the conversation when you’re doing an activity together, such as driving or preparing a meal. Keep things casual and relaxed. Use something you saw in a TV show or on the news as a chance to bring up the issue.
Don’t make assumptions
If you think your child may have tried smoking or vaping, avoid making accusations. Some experts do not recommend searching your child’s space for evidence of smoking or vaping, because it can undermine their trust.
Avoid judging or lecturing
Listen to their point of view and keep it a two-way conversation. Being mindful to keep your body language and tone respectful can go a long way. If your child has tried smoking or vaping, consider asking questions like: ‘what made you want to try?’ and ‘how did it make you feel?’
Don’t exaggerate
Make sure you are honest about potential harms and avoid exaggerated statements.
Focus on health and explain your concerns
Talk about how you care about your child’s health. For example, if your child tells you they are smoking or vaping, you can say you are concerned about the health risks and share the evidence that this can affect adolescent brain development and risk of cancer.
Where to get help
Support and resources are available to help you talk to your child about smoking and vaping.
Quit Victoria
Quit offers resources, information and support for people to quit smoking and vaping as well as advice and fact sheets for parents and carers.
VicHealth
The conversation guide helps parents and carers understand their teen’s thoughts about vaping, and talk with them in a calm and respectful way(opens in a new window).
The Royal Children’s Hospital
The e-cigarettes and teens fact sheet has information on how to talk to teens about the health risks of using e-cigarettes, a podcast episode and video on vaping created by paediatricians(opens in a new window).
Better Health Channel
There is information on the health effects of smoking, strategies for quitting, statistics and Victoria’s laws on smoking, the dangers of e-cigarettes, liquid used in e-cigarettes and the dangers of nicotine poisoning(opens in a new window).
Advice services
- Your family doctor is a good place to start for further information and advice regarding smoking and vaping and your child.
- Quitline provide advice and confidential counselling, including for children from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday. Phone 13 78 48 or use Quitline’s other ways to get help quit smoking quitting smoking or vaping (like text, webchat, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp).
- Quitline has Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander counsellors.
- Quitline can help people with a hearing or speech impairment, or who speak languages other than English.
- DirectLine is a state-wide alcohol and other drugs advice service offering confidential counselling and referral 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Phone 1800 888 236 or go to the DirectLine website.
- Youth, Drugs and Alcohol Advice provide a youth-specific advice service from 9am to 8pm Monday to Friday. Phone 1800 458 685.
- Alcohol and Drug Foundation have an online chatbot.
- Headspace offer mental health support online, by phone and in person through headspace centres.
More information
This fact sheet has been prepared using information and research from:
- E-cigarettes and teens – Royal Children's Hospital(opens in a new window)
- Get the facts on vaping – Quit Victoria(opens in a new window)
- Smoking and tobacco – Better Health Channel(opens in a new window)
- Talking about vaping – Alcohol and Drug Foundation(opens in a new window)
- Talking to your teen about vaping – VicHealth
- Tobacco in Australia – Cancer Council Victoria(opens in a new window)
- Tobacco Act 1987 – Victorian Legislation(opens in a new window)
Updated