The Rural Doctors Association of Australia is calling on small communities and their smokers to do more to quit as rural smoking rates remain stubbornly high. 

It comes as the federal Government pledges to take taking strong action to reduce smoking and stamp out vaping – particularly among young Australians – through stronger legislation, enforcement, education, and support”. 

“The more rural you go, the higher the percentage of smokers and the higher the risk factors for a life-threatening disease,” the Rural Doctors of Australia said in a statement. 

According to the health group Tobacco in Australia, while overall rates have been declining, “Australia’s National Drug Strategy Household Survey suggests that prevalence for people living in outer regional and remote areas is still higher than that of major cities a decade ago.” 

Dr. RT Lewandowski, President-Elect of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA), said that smoking remains “a terrible health concern in many rural communities.” 

For some reason, smoking rates get higher the further you head into the bush,” Dr Lewandowski said.  

“And, excuse the pun, but where there are smokes – there is fire. It is the leading cause of preventable death in Australia, and the stats are pretty shocking. Half of all smokers who continue to smoke will die of smoking-related illness; one-quarter of these will die before they turn 70.    

“Smokers are 20 times more likely to develop lung cancer, 2 to 4 times more likely to have a heart attack, and 1.5 to 2 times more likely to have a stroke”.   

The Federal Health Minister put out a statement this week saying that the 2023–24 Budget l includes $737 million to fund several measures to protect Australians against the harm caused by tobacco and vaping products. 

These measures complement the development of new proposed national tobacco control legislation first announced by the Government in November 2022. Under the laws, the Government says it will update graphic health warnings, standardize tobacco pack sizes and filters, and ban menthol and flavors. 

The Government says it will also work with states and territories to close down the sale of vapes in retail settings, ending vape sales in convenience stores and other retail settings while also making it easier to get a prescription for legitimate therapeutic use. 

The Budget will include $63m for a public health information campaign to discourage Australians from taking up vaping and smoking and encourage more people to quit.

While Australians already pay some of the highest tobacco tax in the world, cigarettes will become more expensive as the Government aims to reduce the number of daily smokers to below 10% of the population by 2025 and below 5% by 2030. 

According to data from the Cancer Council of Victoria., the cost of a pack of 25 or 30 cigarettes has increased from a few dollars in the early 1990s to well over $40. Taxes on tobacco rise with average wage increases, and now there will be a further 5% rise per year over the next three years. 

Taxes on tobacco already rise each year along with the average wage, but there will be a further 5% rise a year over the next three years. 



RDAA says that rural-specific resources and education programs should be developed, alongside a related publicity campaign, to specifically target smoking in rural and remote Australia.  

“The overall decline but continuing differential in the smoking rates in metro versus country areas shows us that previous campaigns have been successful… just less successful in rural areas,” Dr Lewandowski said.  

“We need modern quit smoking campaigns that target the communities that need them most – rural, remote, Indigenous and low socioeconomic.  

“Australia has the highest rate of cigarette tax in the world, with tax making up 65 percent of the cost of each pack of cigarettes, amounting to billions in revenue each year.  

“While the health cost associated with smoking is also astronomical, investing some of this revenue into anti-smoking campaigns that target the communities with the highest rates of smoking would have great benefits in both short and long-term health outcomes and costs.