Earlier this year, an influencer-led youth anti-vaping campaign aimed to spark a conversation with the next generation of Australians about the harms of vaping and nicotine addiction. Education Matters reported on the campaign in its April-June issue.
The Australian Government’s world leading vaping reforms are progressing, with the latest stage of import restrictions taking effect from 1 March, and the launch of a government communications campaign targeting youth vaping.
According to the Minister for Health and Aged Care Mr Mark Butler, social media is awash with pro-vaping content. He describes it as misinformation cynically promoted and stoked by the vaping and tobacco industry.
“There is an enormous amount of misinformation and online advertising designed to lure teenagers into vaping,” Mr Butler said.
“Education is a key step to stopping Big Tobacco companies from luring a new generation into nicotine dependency.”
“I know in the gaming and content space, a lot of young people vape without understanding the health consequences of that choice, including the addictive nature of vaping.” – Jack Buzza
TikTok is home to more than 18 billion posts with the hashtag #vape and Instagram has more than 18,000 ‘vaping influencer’ profiles solely dedicated to promoting vaping, according to the Department of Health and Aged Care.
To borrow a political expression, ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’, the government is turning to influencers to raise awareness about the harms of vaping and nicotine addiction, using communication platforms including music streamer ‘Spotify’ and school leaver resource ‘Year13’.
“It’s pretty clear that teenagers don’t watch TV or listen to Health Ministers, much as I might like them to, which is why we’ve partnered with influencers that young people listen to: from comedians, to sport stars and gamers, and everyone in between,” Mr Butler said.
A range of influencers popular with 14- to 20-year-olds, including Ella Watkins (a writer and actor), Ellyse Perry (a cricketer), Zahlia and Shyla Short (surfers), the Fairbairn Brothers (comedians), and JackBuzza (a gamer), have been engaged to combat the misinformation on social media.
“As a professional athlete, I know that even occasional vape use would have significant consequences for both mental and physical performance on and off the field.” – Ellyse Perry
Some have experienced the dangers of vaping and nicotine addiction firsthand, like junior professional surfers Zahlia and Shyla Short from Wollongong, who have both supported a family member to quit vaping.
“These influencers already have the attention of young Australians, and span the arenas of gaming, comedy, sport and other lifestyle interests. They will reach young people in their own unique style and tone, communicating authentically about the harms and reasons not to vape,” Mr Butler said.
Later this year, product standards for therapeutic vapes will be strengthened, including to limit flavours, reduce permissible nicotine concentrations and require pharmaceutical packaging.
Number one issue
In an interview on Sunrise in February 2024, Minister for Education Jason Clare said nine out of 10 vape stores are within walking distance of schools.
“These companies that make these things are targeting our kids. You walk into one of these stores and you’ve got vapes that look like highlighters that you can hide in a pencil case; you’ve got flavours that you’d see in an ice cream store, and it’s working, because one in six kids in high school at the moment tell us they’re vaping and the impact is massive,” he said.
His comments followed a warning that vaping is the number one behavioural issue in schools in South Australia, with students reportedly skipping classes to vape in toilets, and suffering nicotine withdrawals, leading to disruptive behaviour in the classroom.
“It’s not just South Australia, this is across the whole country,” Mr Clare said.
Since the government introduced a ban on 1 January on the importation of single-use disposable vapes, the Australian Border Force and Therapeutic Goods Administration have seized more than 360,000 vapes worth almost $11 million in operations across Australia.
“If this is supposed to be a drug to get you off cigarettes, then you should need a script from the doctor and buy it from the chemist, not from a vape store or corner store that’s round the corner from a school,” Mr Clare told Sunrise.
“As young women, we witness on a regular basis our friends and dear ones be tempted by vaping. Not only do we worry about the health concerns, but we also worry about the environmental concerns.”
–Zahlia Short
Statistically, vaping is inarguably on the rise among young Australians. A report on Australian secondary school students’ use of alcohol and other substances showed a significantly higher proportion of students (20 per cent) reported use of inhalants in 2022-2023 compared to 2014 (16 per cent). Over 10,000 students aged 12 to 17 years participated in the survey between March 2022 and July 2023 as part of a report prepared for the Department of Health and Aged Care.
Similarly, recent figures from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey show current use of e‑cigarettes among teenagers aged 14–17 increased five-fold from 1.8 per cent in 2019 to 9.7 per cent in 2022–2023. For young adults aged 18–24, use quadrupled from 5.3 per cent to 21 per cent over the same period.
Almost one in four (23 per cent) people aged 14 to 17 who were currently using e‑cigarettes reported that they used e‑cigarettes every day during the past 30 days. For people aged 18 to 24, it was similar (26 per cent).
Socially unacceptable
The use of social influencers to promote a healthy lifestyle is still a relatively new frontier in health communication, and whether the government’s campaign will be effective is yet to be seen.
Four years ago, researchers at the University of Chicago wanted to investigate how content and source features of Twitter messages about an anti-tobacco campaign – known as the truth campaign – influence their popularity, support, and reach.
The research findings revealed that campaigns that utilised social influencers as message sources generated more campaign-branded and sharable content – for example, campaign hashtags – and greater volume of tweets and reach per day.
According to the study, ‘Boosting Health Campaign Reach and Engagement Through Use of Social Media Influencers and Memes’, influential users posted fewer organic messages and more branded/sharable content, generating greater reach compared to non-influencers.
“Harnessing cultural elements endemic to social media, such as popular content creators (influencers) and messages (memes), is a promising strategy for improving health campaign interest and engagement,” the researchers noted.
They also found oppositional messages decreased over time.
“We know that a lot of our peers vape, so it’s important to us that we support a campaign that will educate people on the harms of vaping and help them seek support if they want it.”
– Lachlan Fairbairn
YouTube too
Fifteen seconds is all it takes for the NSW Government to get across its message that ‘every vape is a hit to your health’ in its campaign launched in January 2024, a month before the federal government campaign.
Developed in consultation with young people and medical experts, the NSW campaign amplifies the voices of people aged 14-24 who have experienced the harms of vaping.
The campaign uses powerful short advertisements on YouTube to encourage young people to consider the proven health harms of vaping, such as nicotine addiction, lung damage, breathlessness, nicotine poisoning and burns from exploding vapes.
It follows the latest NSW Population Health Survey showing current vaping among people aged 16-24 has significantly increased to 16.5 per cent in 2021-22, up from 4.5 per cent two years prior.
The ‘Every vape is a hit to your health’ campaign builds on NSW Health’s successful ‘Do you know what you’re vaping?’ campaign and Vaping Toolkit, and provides a range of support pathways for young people.
In 2023-24, the NSW Ministry of Health will invest $25 million on tobacco and e-cigarette control in NSW. This includes an investment by Cancer Institute NSW of more than $3 million in the new vaping campaign. The NSW Government is also contributing to the National Vaping Working Group established by the Federal Government in November 2023.
An additional $2.5 million is also being invested over the next 12 months to increase services to help young people quit vaping, including a new digital platform, enhancements to the iCanQuit platform and an online learning module for youth services across the state.
This comes after the NSW Government convened a roundtable last year to address the growing issue of vaping in schools.
Since then the NSW Department of Education is continuing to update the curriculum resources so they better address the dangers of vaping.
An online training module for school staff is also being created to have conversations with students, and webinar resources will soon be available for parents and carers.
“I’m very vocal with friends and family about the negative physical and mental health effects of vaping and I’m really pleased to be joining this campaign and helping to spread such an important message to young Australians.” – Ella Watkins
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said vaping is a serious issue and it is having a significant impact on students and young people.
“It is important that as we work together to tackle the scourge of vaping, we lead with an evidenced-based approach, and bring the experiences of young people to the forefront,” she said.
“This is part of our strategy to tackle vaping, particularly addressing the impact on young people.”
