The Crackdown on Illicit Tobacco and Vapes in Queensland
Last year, it was possible to walk into a tobacconist in a busy Gold Coast shopping area and purchase a vape or a carton of illicit cigarettes without any questions asked. However, this changed dramatically in November when Queensland Health launched a statewide crackdown, issuing three-month shutdown orders to several tobacconists and around 150 other shops.
Public health researchers have noted a “very notable decrease” in the availability of illicit tobacco and vapes following these measures. According to Cheneal Puljevic, a research fellow at the University of Queensland’s School of Public Health, there has been a “marked difference” in how these products are sold.
“For a long time, there was virtually no penalty associated with selling these products,” she said. “You could very brazenly sell illicit tobacco and vapes without any kind of consequence and just make an awful amount of profit.”
Puljevic’s team has been monitoring the sale of illicit products for three years and has observed that retailers have increasingly moved their operations online in recent months. “We’re seeing retailers giving out details to trusted customers to say, ‘Phone this number and someone will home deliver the products to you or join this WhatsApp group’,” she explained.
However, this shift has made it more difficult for consumers to access these products. “To go from being able to buy these products in every suburb at every tobacconist, to needing to call someone to arrange for them to deliver, it’s a lot harder and a lot of people are hesitant to buy online.”
Challenges in the Convenience Store Sector
While the crackdown has had some success, the convenience store sector is warning that the black market is adapting beyond the shop front. Theo Foukkare, chief executive of the Australian Association of Convenience Stores, said that after the shutdowns, sales of legal tobacco products initially improved. However, he noted that after about six weeks, customers “flow back” to online sales or other businesses moving into the illicit trade.
“We’ve heard of hairdressers, butchers. We’ve had people selling these from their houses with signs out the front. I’ve even had reports of a tyre shop,” Foukkare said.
A December 2025 report from the Illicit Tobacco and E-cigarette Commissioner estimated that about half of all tobacco sales and 96 per cent of vape sales were illegal. “Legal tobacco used to contribute around 40 per cent of total in-store shop sales, excluding fuel,” Foukkare said. “That number now is down across the whole country at around 18 per cent and in many instances, it’s now below 10 per cent.”
Rising Excise and Prohibition by Price
Foukkare pointed out that the rising tobacco excise has created what he calls “prohibition by price.” Illicit cigarettes are up to five times cheaper than legal ones, tempting some legitimate stores to move into the illicit market. Recently, four EzyMart convenience shops in Sydney were shut over alleged sales of illegal tobacco and vapes.
“Our view is the federal government needs to reduce excise by 50 per cent, which would make a legal packet around $25 in comparison to, on average, around $15 [for illicit],” Foukkare said.
Tobacco taxes raised about $16 billion in 2020 but have been forecast to fall to $2.1 billion by June 2030. Despite this, the federal government has repeatedly ruled out cuts to the tobacco excise.
Balancing Public Health and Policy
Dr. Puljevic believes that cutting the excise to move people “from one harmful product to another” would be ineffective. She emphasized that Queensland’s laws have made a “significant difference” in reducing the availability of illicit products, but more time is needed to understand the longer-term impact.
“There will always be a level of illicit trade in the country,” she said. “But I think that we will be effective in reducing it, primarily through getting on top of the retailers who have been selling it.”
