ASH Action: 
Taxation and funding the fight against tobacco
 
   

Tobacco is Australia's Number One cause of preventable death and disease - but what we spend on the fight against it doesn't reflect that.

Below:   TOBACCO TAX   and latest  NEWS  on funding the fight against tobacco

 

Australia has a strong record of success in tobacco control, our 2007 smoking rate (14 years and over, at least weekly) now about 18%.   See  2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: first results 

But still each day in Australia, 50 people die prematurely from active and passive smoking. Around three million Australians are still regular smokers. Deaths caused by tobacco - over 15,000 a year - outstrip the combined deaths from road and all other accidents, alcohol and all illicit drugs, all homicide, HIV, and more. Tobacco causes 12% of the national burden of disease, and 20% of all deaths in indigenous communities.

Tobacco drains the Australian economy of over $31 billion a year in health and other social costs - at least four times what it raises in tax.

Research shows over 80% of smokers want to quit. Comprehensive, sustained anti-smoking campaigns overseas have reduced smoking rates well below the current Australian rate. The cost of achieving such a fall is more than offset by massive savings in health care costs - and the health benefits to smokers, their families and businesses.

Government investment in reducing smoking rates has improved in recent years, but still doesn't match the scale of the problem. Per capita, Australian (federal and state/territory) funding of anti-tobacco measures is much lower than comparable OECD countries (the US, Canada, New Zealand).

The strong economic case for better government investment in reducing smoking rates and the huge benefits for governments, families, businesses and regional Australia are set out in submissions each year to the Federal Government from Australia’s leading health organisations and medical colleges.  

We support:

  • raising tobacco taxes and prices (see below);
  • full funding for the Australian National Tobacco Strategy; 
  • overall (federal + state/territory) government funding for education and prevention strategies increased to a level of $10 per capita;
  • federal funding for the national tobacco control campaign to be increased to $100m a year, with the majority of funds used to support social marketing; and
  • sale of duty-free tobacco products to be prohibited in Australia.  

 

What should governments be spending on tobacco control?  

See  National Tobacco Strategy 2004-09 funding guidelines  signed off by all Australian governments.

From Development of a National Preventive Health Strategy on Tobacco  - ASH submission to Preventative Health Taskforce, 2008:

 

TOBACCO TAX

See latest tobacco tax factsheet in  Tobacco Facts for MPs

Tobacco tax should be increased in two phases:
 
- Phase 1: raise price by 21% (7.5 cents a stick), producing additional revenue of $1.03 billion a year. 
- Phase 2: raise price to 50% above current price, to bring Australia into line with international best practice.  

Australia's tobacco excise has not risen in real terms for almost a decade - we're well behind world’s best practice. Increased excise will help disadvantaged Australians, who bear the brunt of smoking-related death and disease.

Evidence shows a 21% increase in the price of tobacco products through excise would prompt 130,000 Australian adults to quit and prevent 35,500 children from taking up smoking. The majority of these people will otherwise die prematurely from illnesses including cancer and cardiovascular disease. Government leadership would reinvigorate preventative health in Australia and help prevent thousands of premature deaths.

With almost one in five Australians smoking daily, and Australia’s current tobacco excise regime well below international best practice, we have an ideal opportunity to increase tobacco excise by 21% as an interim measure towards matching the far higher and more effective excise regimes of OECD jurisdictions like France, Ireland and the UK.

As well as the proven benefits of reducing smoking prevalence, a 21% tobacco price increase (7.5c per cigarette) through excise would deliver an additional $1.03 billion in federal revenue – an extraordinary funding source for further investing in public health to offset the projected health system costs of an ageing population.

Inadequate tobacco control measures, including an excise regime that has not kept pace with WHO-recommended levels since 1999, result in a cycle of social disadvantage, tobacco use and poor health outcomes that tobacco excise can help to break. Research shows excise increases are particularly effective in encouraging blue collar workers to quit smoking and are supported by the majority of smokers in this group. General public support is also very high, with Newspoll research showing 86% of Australians support the measure if most of the revenue is allocated to health.


NEWS  (including latest research)

Tobacco myth busted: huge drain, not "benefit" to economy
22/10/09: Tobacco industry myths of "paying for itself" and "benefiting" the Australian economy have been shattered by a new report showing its multibillion dollar burden far outweighs its meagre net contribution. 
See  full report, CCWA media release 22/10/09 and factsheets  See more  tobacco industry myths busted 

Dearer smokes = fewer smokers: survey
22/9/09: Raising the price of cigarette packets will help smokers quit, a new Australian survey confirms. The Quit poll shows 53% of people who've recently stopped smoking believe price is a useful factor in helping to quit. The survey says cost is the biggest factor in giving up, and smokefree places laws the biggest factor in staying off. The finding confirms earlier studies and backs a key recommendation in the Preventative Health Taskforce report (see below). 
See  AAP/ninemsn report 22/9/09  

Taskforce calls for tobacco tax increase
1/9/09: ASH Australia has welcomed a recommendation by the Australian Government's Preventative Health Taskforce that tobacco taxes be increased so that a packet costs $20 within three years.
See pp. 175-177 of  Taskforce report, Tobacco chapter  and  ASH media release 1/9/01

Opposition call for tobacco tax rise supported
15/5/09: Health groups have backed a Federal Opposition call for a 12.5% increase on tobacco tax, made in the Budget Reply speech.  See  Cancer Council Australia media release 15/5/09 

Three-quarters of smokers would quit if price raised 50%
15/4/09: 74% of smokers say they would quit if cigarette prices increased by 50% according to a Quit / Heart Foundation / Cancer Council study. The organisations, along with ASH, have called for immediate tobacco tax rises.   See  media release 15/4/09   

USA: Largest tobacco tax rise in history
31/3/09: The US has just adopted its largest-ever federal increase in tobacco tax. 
See USA Today report 

Australia needs tax increase to meet targets: study
2009: Australia must raise tobacco taxes or smoking rate fall will falter. A 2009 study warns that quit rates will need to double for the Australian smoking rate to fall to 10% by 2020. At present quit and initiation rates, the daily smoking rate will fall from the present 17% only to around 14%. The University of Queensland study has been published online in Tobacco Control  journal. The authors point to the need to raise tobacco taxes to drive smoking rates down. 
See  abstract  and  accepted manuscript 

 

See our factsheet for Federal MPs 

Development of a National Preventive Health Strategy on Tobacco  
- ASH submission to Preventative Health Taskforce, 2008

Tips for taking tobacco action

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Page last updated on 16/2/10