Students reveal extent of school vaping crisis, Victorian inquiry hears

An inquiry has been told that students need more support to overcome vaping addictions and that Victoria must act quickly to implement a tobacco licensing agreement.

The Victorian Student Representative Council said primary school pupils as young as year 4 and junior high school students engaged in vaping because of peer pressure and to experiment.

Victorian students as young as primary school age are turning to vapes out of desire to experiment and fit in with their peers, and senior pupils who continue to use e-cigarettes are most likely addicted, an inquiry has been told.

The Victorian Student Representative Council fronted the state’s public accounts and estimates committees’ probe into vaping and tobacco controls on Monday and said punitive measures against young people would not stamp out use of the harmful products, and instead trust needed to be built between students and teachers.

The group said primary school pupils as young as year 4 and junior high school students engaged in vaping because of peer pressure and to experiment, whereas students upwards of year 10 were usually vaping as they had become addicted.

Risith, a year 9 student representative, said students were more eager to talk about mental health and inclusivity in schools over vaping, but noted there was a growing number of students engaging in the act.

“(Vaping is) seen as a cool thing, or it could also be used as an escape mechanism,” he said.

“Vaping really became prevalent around year 7 when I saw a lot of my class vaping. By then, they seemed to be comfortable with the vape so I assume they began in late primary school.”

Risith said punishing students would erode trust and that teachers are not skilled to address vaping, with the group suggesting a health-focused approach.

VicSRC policy and advocacy manager William Naughton-Gravette said there had been instances where teachers had made physical contact with students to check for vapes by inspecting waistbands and asking pupils to lift up their clothing.

Another student said vaping detectors had been installed in some bathrooms at her school, and while they had been effective in stopping students using the space to vape, it did nothing to make her peers quit.

The students said young people had little awareness of support services available to them.

Victorian Principals Association president Andrew Dalgleish said primary school children had accessed vapes through siblings, older friends, and in some cases parents. Students had also come across vapes on school grounds.

“There’s no scanning of bags, it’s really if they’re found then it’s dealt with,” he said. “Some principals will scan the grounds in the morning as some people use the school out of hours.”

Cigarette companies Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco used the hearing to urge the state government to quickly implement a tobacco licensing scheme similar to Queensland’s, which will come into effect in September, to stamp out the illicit tobacco trade.

Victoria Police launched Taskforce Lunar in October 2023 in response to the spate of arson attacks linked to criminal organisations and illegal tobacco.

Since then, there have been more than 85 arson attacks on outlets involved in the sale of tobacco.

An anonymous witness from Philip Morris said about 30 per cent of the entire tobacco market was captured by illegal operators.

He said state, commonwealth and police efforts to crack down on the illicit tobacco trade had been undermined by “repeated policy failures”.

A witness from British American Tobacco said Victoria had reached a “flashpoint” in its battle against the illegal tobacco industry: “Limited regulatory enforcement have made Victoria an attractive target for organised crime networks.”

Cancer Council Victoria chief executive officer Todd Harper said only a small share of the state’s health budget went to prevention despite the “enormous potential”.