Australia's vape laws are showing promising signs in supporting secondary schools
The Generation Vape project has revealed Australian secondary school teacher's perceptions of vaping with many describing it as a "huge problem".
"Our study is the first to investigate teacher perceptions of vaping in Australian secondary schools over time and demonstrates the increasing concerns of teachers," says Lead Author on the paper, Dr Bronwyn McGill, Prevention Research Collaboration, University of Sydney, "as vaping is a community-wide problem, a coordinated response across government is required to support teachers in reducing the use of vapes by students at school."
The study, led by researchers from Cancer Council NSW and the University of Sydney, is the first to track teacher perceptions of vaping over time. It draws on survey responses from over 1,300 teachers and focus groups with educators across New South Wales.
Education campaigns and programs in schools and the community are already seeing promising results as identified in the study, "the knowledge increased very quickly once people realised it was bad. You could say, 'Is vaping healthy?' and they [students] would say, 'No, it's not'" said a metropolitan non-government principal who participated in the study.
Key Findings:
- 89% of teachers were "concerned" or "very concerned" about vaping in schools, with the proportion of those "very concerned" rising from 43% to 55% over a 12 month period.
- 1 in 4 teachers reported witnessing student vaping on school grounds five or more times per week.
- Teachers strongly agreed that vaping can cause addiction and harm to the developing brain and lungs.
- Vaping is increasingly seen as socially acceptable among students.
- Teachers reported feeling unsupported and overwhelmed when dealing with vaping at schools, whilst also balancing the mental health issues, behaviour and education of students.
- Vaping is a widespread problem in schools with one rural government teacher participating in the study saying, "I think it's across the board - it doesn't matter what socioeconomic level, gender or age."
Federal legislation, introduced in July 2024, restricts vape sales to pharmacies and requires prescriptions for those under 18 years. Researchers say increased enforcement and ongoing monitoring is essential to assess the impact of these reforms on school environments.
Alecia Brooks, Manager of the Tobacco Control Unit at Cancer Council NSW and Co-Investigator on the Generation Vape study, said the findings highlight the need for a coordinated response in order to help teachers feel supported, "teachers are doing their best and we need to ensure they are supported by changes like these vaping laws. Vaping is not just a school issue and through early indicators we can see that Australia's comprehensive approach to regulating vapes is having a positive impact on reducing adolescent vaping. We need to continue helping schools and their staff with clear policies, cessation resources, and education programs that empower both students and staff," Ms Brooks said.
One rural school principal participating in the study said the issue of vaping is meaning staff are taking more roles, "we become the mental health service, the addiction service - we're just taking on so many roles," with another principal adding, "we have an obligation as a society to stop the tobacco industry from profiting from inherently harmful products, and to ensure that access to these products is for smoking cessation only."
Evidence from the Generation Vape research project shows that young people who try vapes are five times as likely to take up smoking, "we've already seen early signs that Australia's current vaping laws are working with vaping rates declining, awareness of harms increasing, and it's becoming less socially acceptable among teens. But we must enforce the laws and stay the course to stop this from becoming a larger public health issue." Ms Brooks concludes.
