Australia has a long history of successful anti-smoking campaigns. Decades of policy reform and public health efforts have played a key role in helping to steadily reduce the number of people who smoke.
Although tobacco use continues to decline, smoking rates remain disproportionately high in some communities.
The emergence of vaping devices and e-cigarettes in the mid-2000s has introduced a new generation to nicotine. Approximately 3.3 million Australians smoke and/or vape, underscoring the need for a comprehensive response.
In 2024, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing launched the Give Up For Good campaign. This campaign, running alongside the National Tobacco Strategy 2023–2030, encourages people to quit smoking and vaping by providing expanded quit support services and running across major media channels. The campaign includes resources to help people quit and aims to raise awareness of the harms of tobacco and nicotine addiction.
The strategic framework for PR approach aimed to engage, inspire, inform and empower people to move through the stages of behaviour change, increase confidence to quit and encourage quit attempts. We needed to reach people in contextual settings, avoid stigma and reactive messages about the harms of smoking, and be mindful to avoid people switching from smoking to vaping.
Campaign delivery has included a comprehensive suite of resources, including videos of personal quitting stories, explainer animations, posters, factsheets, FAQs and social content. These were published on government-owned channels and distributed to stakeholders.
