Date: 7 July 2023
The RACGP thanks the Department of Health and Aged Care for the opportunity to comment on the Exposure Draft, Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Legislation, 2023. The RACGP supports consolidating existing tobacco legislation into a single instrument to streamline implementation and makes the following recommendations:
- Heated tobacco products must be included among the defined tobacco products under this legislation
- The scope of the new legislation must include emerging tobacco products
- Prohibit tobacco and/or vaping industry donations to political parties or individual politicians
- Clarify the roles and responsibilities of government departments / agencies for the enforcement of these regulations
- Ensure heated tobacco products are covered by the proposed plain packaging and product requirement legislation
- Remove the export exception ban on regulated tobacco items
- Services and resources supporting smoking cessation need to be more easily accessible to harder to reach groups.
Read the submission
RACGP response Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Legislation 2023 (PDF)