Ten illegal tobacco stores across the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and Riverina regions have been shut down this week under the Minns Labor Government's tough new laws targeting illicit tobacco and illegal vaping.
The stores have been closed immediately for 90 days, bringing the total number of stores shut to 24 since the tough new closure powers came into effect on 3 November.
While implementing the closure activity this week, NSW Health inspectors, with support from NSW Police, found and seized over 349,000 illicit cigarettes, close to 17 kg of other illicit tobacco products and almost 4600 illegal vapes.
Investigations are ongoing and further enforcement action including prosecution may take place.
NSW Health now has substantial powers to close premises selling illicit tobacco, illicit vaping goods or selling tobacco without a licence for up to 90 days.
The Local Court may, on application by the NSW Health Secretary, make a long-term closure order of up to 12 months if satisfied a relevant breach has occurred.
If an individual sells tobacco products, non-tobacco smoking products or vaping goods from closed premises they can be prosecuted and face a maximum penalty of up to:
- For a first offence: 6 months imprisonment, a fine of $137,500, or both
- For a subsequent offence: 12 months imprisonment, a fine of $275,000, or both
Factors that may be considered in determining the length of a closure order can include previous conduct of the business, the seriousness of the offence, or immediate and ongoing harm to the community.
From 1 January 2025 to 27 October 2025, NSW Health conducted more than 1260 retailer inspections and seized more than 11.8 million cigarettes and over 2,000kg of other illicit tobacco products and around 170,000 illegal vaping goods with a combined estimated street value of around $18.9 million.
During this same period, the NSW Ministry of Health finalised 17 prosecutions with the courts imposing a total of $597,200 in fines related to illicit vaping and tobacco offences. There are currently 28 prosecutions inclusive of the District Court appeal before the Courts.
NSW Health is aware of retailers doing the wrong thing through many ways, via the complaints portal on the NSW Health website and information gathered from routine inspections.
Members of the public are encouraged to report suspected breaches of tobacco retailing laws and the illegal sale of vaping goods on the NSW Health website here: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/tobacco/Pages/let-us-know-reports-complaints.aspx
Publicly available information of premises closed can be found here: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/tobacco/Pages/closure-register.aspx
Quotes attributable to Minister for Health Ryan Park:
"The operation this week across the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and Riverina is part of our ongoing efforts to disrupt the supply of illicit tobacco and illicit vaping goods to protect public health across NSW.
"Since the new closure powers started in early November, we have closed 24 stores.
"This will take some time as we ramp up our closure activities, but this is just the beginning, and we want to reassure the community that we are targeting those retailers doing the wrong thing.
"My message to retails selling illicit tobacco or vapes is stop it now. If you're doing the wrong thing, sooner or later we will come for you."
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