Overview

Reducing smoking remains a high priority for VicHealth. The reason is simple: it’s one of the major causes of death and disease in Australia. And it can be reduced best through effective health promotion strategies.

In fact, VicHealth was established in 1987 with a tax on tobacco, pledged as part of the Victorian Tobacco Act of that year.

Why invest in tobacco control?

Tobacco control has worked with men and women from all socio-economic groups. Rates are half what they were in 1987 when VicHealth began – down from 34% to 17% of Victorian adults regularly smoking. In fact, tobacco control has been one of the best, if not the best buy in health over the last 30 years.
 

What do we do?

As well as funding cessation programs, VicHealth is involved in legal and regulatory reform, and supports innovative research in tobacco control.