From today, individual cigarettes must have health warnings

Smoking health warnings printed on the filters of individual cigarettes are now mandatory in Australia.

The measure is part of a range of new smoking measures that come into effect today.

Under the changes, phrases including “causes 16 cancers” and “damages your lungs” will appear on each cigarette. New ‘Health Promotion Inserts’ are now also mandatory inside cigarette packs.

Canada is the only other country in the world to print health warnings on individual cigarette sticks.

Changes

Several reforms are being introduced today, aimed at discouraging people from smoking and raising awareness about its harms.

This includes:

• 10 new graphic health warnings on cigarette packs
  
• 10 new health promotion inserts inside packs, with information on quitting and support services (e.g. Quitline)
  
• The start of a phased ban on menthol cigarettes
  
• Health warnings printed on individual cigarette stick filters (which don’t burn down)

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Health warnings

Cancer Council Australia said graphic health warnings are effective educational tools.

However, researchers warn they become less effective over time, as people “become accustomed to seeing the images.”

Professor Sarah Durkin from Cancer Council Victoria said the new warnings will include smoking harms that people may not be aware of, “such as diabetes, erectile dysfunction, cervical cancer, DNA damage, and the impact of second-hand smoke on children’s lung capacity.”

Cancer Council described Australia as a “world leaders in tobacco control,” and said the reforms are “effective, evidence-based measures”.

Quit Director Rachael Andersen said she hopes the changes will educate Australians, “acting as both a disincentive to smoke and a bridge to services such as Quitline and quit.org.au.“

Global moves

Canada implemented the world’s first health warnings on individual cigarettes in 2024, with phrases like “Poison in every puff” and “Cigarettes cause cancer” appearing near the filter.

Canadian Cancer Society Senior Policy Analyst Rob Cunningham said: “These new health warnings will be there with every cigarette and every puff, and during every smoke break.”

“[They] simply cannot be ignored,” he added.