Minns government walks back plan to install vape detectors due to eye-watering cost

The state government has backtracked on a plan to install vape detectors in NSW public schools because it would cost up to $800 million and potentially not work.

The Minns government has quietly walked away from a plan to install vape detectors in public school bathrooms because the rollout could cost as much as $800 million dollars and potentially cause more harm than good.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the Department of Education has shelved plans for a widespread vape detector rollout after testing the market last year.

Tender documents released by the department in April outlined plans to secure 40,000 vape detectors to be installed in NSW schools.

But that plan has now been dropped because the devices — which would also detect students smoking cannabis product THC — could cost as much as $10,000 each.

Installing vape detectors in the 80,000 public school bathrooms across NSW would cost as much as $800 million.

Premier Chris Minns spruiked vape detectors before the election as a way to crack down on students vaping but now Labor has walked back on that plan. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Despite spruiking the devices before the election, Education Minister Prue Car has now conceded vape detectors are not a “silver bullet” to stop kids vaping.

Experts have warned the government that vape detectors would not work and could have unintended consequences, including kids inhaling e-cigarettes without breathing out the toxic vapour.

The Education Department last year tested the market on plans to buy an ‘initial’ supply of 40,000 vape detectors. Photo: Supplied

Last week, Ms Car said the detectors would not work because students would just vape elsewhere.

“What ends up happening is if there’s a vape detector, young people that are addicted to vaping just go somewhere else,” she said.

“So that’s not really, we feel, the best use of resources in terms of stopping young kids in our primary and high schools vaping.”

Experts cast doubt on the effectiveness of vape detectors during the government’s vaping roundtable last year.

Experts warned the government that vaping detectors could make the problem worse by encouraging kids to not exhale the toxic vapour. Picture: Supplied by NSW Health

“We heard loud and clear from health experts, students and principals at the recent vaping roundtable that vaping in schools is a complex issue, and detectors were not a silver bullet,” Ms Car told The Daily Telegraph.

She insisted that principals would still be able to install vape detectors in their schools, but would need to pay for them out of existing discretionary funds.

No specific funding to install vape detectors would be provided.

Education Minister Prue Car said vape detectors are not a ‘silver bullet’. Picture: NCA NewsWire

It is believed that only two public schools have installed the devices, including Plumpton High School.

In 2022, a school in the Hunter tried to install vape detectors, but students vandalised the device before it was up and running. The project was abandoned.

“We continue to listen to the experts as we deal with this complex and evolving health issue in our schools,” Ms Car said.

“That is why we are developing a comprehensive approach to the problem, that includes continuing to support schools where vape detectors have been identified as part of the solution.

“Our government supports schools to install vape detectors where they have identified the devices as being part of their local solution to combat vaping,” she said.

Experts told the vaping roundtable that installing the devices could be counter-productive by encouraging students to inhale e-cigarettes without exhaling the vapour.

Do you have a story for The Daily Telegraph? Email [e-mail]

Originally published as Minns government walks back plan to install vape detectors due to eye-watering cost