Introduction:
As vaping rates among young people have surged over the past decade, public health efforts are now shifting toward developing effective quit support services tailored to this growing need. In Australia, there are several cessation offerings for people looking to quit smoking, however, tailored vaping cessation support for young people is lacking. There is a clear need to understand young people’s quitting intentions and preferred support pathways.

Methods:
This mixed-methods study collects data from teens (14-17s) and young adults (18-24s) between October 2023 (Wave 5) and April 2025 (Wave 8) as part of the national Generation Vape research project. The sample was drawn from 9,897 young adults and 11,994 teens via online cross-sectional surveys administered every six months.

Results:
42% of young adults think they are very or extremely addicted to vaping, and of current vapers surveyed, half (50%) had ever tried to quit vaping before, most commonly without any support or with support from friends or family. Over half (52%) of young adult current vapers were thinking about quitting vaping within the next 30 days to six months. Teens had similar quitting experiences, noting that 18% would consider a smartphone app to help them quit vaping.

Conclusion:
Generation Vape data shows that young people’s awareness of nicotine addiction and intention to quit vaping is high. These findings have directly informed public health action, including the development of targeted campaigns, educational resources and cessation tools like NSW Health’s PAVE app. Data has also informed the Cancer Council NSW co-designed national digital platform that gives young people (aged 14-25) personalised vaping cessation support via app and website, utilising an AI powered chat interface. Generation Vape stands as a model for evidence-informed implementation, bridging research and real-world impact in the evolving landscape of youth vaping cessation.

INTRO:
Tobacco smoking harms nearly every organ in the body and adding the use of vapes has the potential to cause additional health risks. Young Australian adults are the highest dual users of vapes and tobacco products compared to their older and younger peers. With limited Australian research on dual use, this study aims to understand the use, behaviours and experiences of young Australian adults who are users of both vapes and tobacco.

METHODS:
This study will report findings from three waves of the Generation Vape research study, an Australian study examining the use of vapes and tobacco among young adults. Young adults (aged 18-24 years) across Australia completed an online survey between September 2023 and December 2024. Results pertaining to dual use of vapes and tobacco will be presented. Survey respondents will be broken into three user groups – smoke-only, vape-only and dual use. The analysis will include descriptive statistics, frequencies by use and behaviour characteristics. Multinomial logistic regression will compare the association between the three user groups by sociodemographic characteristics, including gender, remoteness of residence, education level and employment status.

RESULTS:
Of those who reported ever smoking and/or vaping (n=3,705), three in five (61%) had tried both smoking and vaping before. Preliminary analyses found that out of the respondents who ever reported dual use, 48% currently smoke and 50% currently vape. About half of respondents who reported current dual use indicated they intended to quit smoking (51%) and vaping (55%) within the next 30 days to 6 months.

CONCLUSION:
Modelling from this research will be used to determine which characteristics are associated with dual use among young Australians adults, and how this compares to those who only vape or smoke. These findings will provide insights into where targeted policy, campaigns and quit supports are needed to reach young adults.

Intro:
‘We Breathe – Tackling Indigenous Smoking’ (We Breathe) is an Aboriginal-led health promotion initiative delivered by Grand Pacific Health and funded under the Australian Government Tackling Indigenous Smoking (TIS) program. Operating across South-East NSW, We Breathe builds trust and connection through culturally centred youth education activities in schools, and at community based cultural and sporting events. This research was guided by Aboriginal Governance through a Project Reference Group (PRG) of Elders, youth representatives and We Breathe staff. We Breathe initiatives combine creativity, empathy, and strong cultural identity to deliver compelling public health messages that move hearts and minds. The objective of these activities is to increase knowledge of smoking and vaping harms among youth, empower youth to challenge tobacco industry tactics and strengthen intentions to live smoke and vape free by highlighting the benefits of strong, healthy futures grounded in culture and connection. We evaluated the impact, reach and effectiveness of these youth education activities in promoting healthy choices among youth.

Methods:
Grounded in Aboriginal governance and culturally safe research, the PRG played an active role in shaping the project’s design, delivery, and evaluation. Their leadership ensured Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and perspectives were embedded throughout, guided by Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles, ethical standards from the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council (AH&MRC) and the CONSolIDated critERtia for strengthening the reporting of health research involving Indigenous Peoples (CONSIDER statement). Evaluation tools and consent processes were co-designed to reflect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being, and doing. The RE-AIM framework informed evaluation design: Reach and Effectiveness were tracked through routine monitoring data, youth surveys and smoke and vape-free pledges, while stakeholder interviews and youth focus groups captured Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance. Aboriginal staff led data collection and analysis, strengthening community capacity and ensuring cultural integrity at all stages of the research.

Results:
Data collection commenced in October 2025. Early findings showing strong youth engagement and increased awareness of smoking and vaping harms reflecting the program’s intended outcomes of increased knowledge, attitudes, and intentions towards living smoke- and vape-free. Initial insights highlight the value of culturally tailored delivery, inclusive approaches and non-judgmental language that resonates with both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous youth. Further data collection and analysis will gather feedback on the design and delivery of activities and will explore how the intended outcomes of changes in knowledge, attitudes, and intentions have been further achieved.

Conclusion:
We Breathe take pride in working with our communities not for them and appreciate that only by actively listening and engaging with our communities can we hope to make positive change. It is so important to us that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities lead this process, and that it is evidence based, only then can prevention messages move hearts and minds. Culturally grounded activities that emphasise creativity, empathy and community engagement can also increase knowledge, shift attitudes, and strengthen intentions for smoke and vape free futures. This evaluation offers valuable lessons on what drives effective, community-led youth prevention programs. By listening deeply, centring culture and strengthening connection, We Breathe helps shape a future where youth are empowered to make smoke and vape free choices.

Problem:
People working in trades have higher rates of daily smoking compared to other occupations. Emerging evidence suggests young tradies may also be disproportionately affected by e-cigarette use. Analysis of our Healthy Lungs at Work quiz revealed that 25% of respondents under 24 were current or daily vapers, exceeding the national average of 21% for this age group. A review found no vaping prevention or awareness resources specifically tailored to this cohort. Given elevated smoking and vaping rates, combined with occupational lung health risks, young tradies were identified as a priority population for targeted intervention.
What we did:
With funding from Queensland Health, we developed a suite of resources including two animated videos, three infographics, and two posters for display on worksites. Creative concepts and scripts were tested in workshops with young tradies, ensuring lived experience informed final outputs. Posters were installed across nine construction sites in Brisbane and the Gold Coast during August, aligning with Tradies National Health Month. A three-week digital marketing campaign ran across Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Demand Generation. The campaign was launched with a media event at Queensland Parliament House.
Results:
The paid media campaign generated 4 million impressions, 23,280 clicks, and 300,659 video views over a 3-week period. Organic social media reached 5,250 users with a 4.44% engagement rate. Hardcopy posters were estimated to reach 243,000 people. Digital resources hosted on the Lung Foundation Australia website received over 1,700 views and 318 downloads. Hard copy resource packs were distributed to 28 organisations.
Lessons:
Co-design with young tradies was critical to inform resource development and identifying social media platforms that they engage with. Digital campaigns achieved broad reach, but engagement does not guarantee behaviour change. Future efforts should explore alternative evaluation methods and advocate for more accessible, youth-friendly Quitline services.

Introduction: Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities represent a significant proportion of Victoria’s population, yet persistent inequities in smoking cessation outcomes highlight the need for more inclusive, culturally responsive support. Understanding cessation patterns within CALD communities is essential to inform equitable preventive health strategies. This study examined short- and long-term quitting behaviours among CALD adults.

Methods: Data were drawn from the 2022 Victorian Smoking and Health Survey; a representative cross-sectional survey of 12,000 adults. Past-year quit attempts refer to individuals who smoke and have made at least one attempt to quit in the previous year. The quit ratio is defined as the proportion of people who have been quit for at least one year among people who have ever smoked. To generate reliable prevalence estimates for CALD groups (defined by main language spoken at home, country of birth, and year of arrival in Australia), small domain estimation techniques were applied.

Results: Approximately half of CALD adults who smoke reported a quit attempt in the past year—comparable to Australian-born adults. However, quit ratios varied widely, being lower among newer migrant communities and specific language groups (e.g., Arabic, Punjabi, Vietnamese), and higher among more established communities (e.g., Italian, Greek). Across all CALD groups, females demonstrated greater long-term cessation success than males.

Conclusions: In Victoria, quit attempts were substantial among CALD communities and broadly comparable to Australian-born adults. While motivation to quit is strong, sustained quitting success varies considerably. Newer arrival groups and some language communities were less likely to sustain quitting, possibly reflecting differences in exposure to long-standing anti-smoking campaigns, or in awareness and accessibility of cessation support services. These findings highlight the need for culturally tailored strategies that address these gaps. Further exploration of community-specific knowledge and perceptions of available supports will help inform more effective and equitable cessation initiatives.

Introduction
People with mental illness smoke at double the rate of the general population in Australia and experience disproportionately greater barriers to quitting. Mental health inpatient settings provide an opportunity for people with chronic mental illnesses to address and support unexplored health care. We sought to investigate and address attitudes and beliefs of smoking and vaping in mental health inpatients and staff within an ethnically diverse population in western Sydney.

Methods
A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted between May–September 2023 for inpatients and staff across 14 acute and rehabilitation units including demographic data, smoking and vaping behaviour, and attitudes across three domains: interaction between smoking and vaping with mental illness; capacity to quit; and culture of smoking and vaping. A trained Peer Support workforce assisted with inpatients’ survey administration while staff participated online. A co-design process was then undertaken with both groups to develop educational resources and tools which were disseminated as a communication campaign across all inpatient wards.

Results
From 404 completed inpatient and staff surveys, 52% of inpatients smoked and/or vaped compared to 9% of staff. Statistically significant differences emerged between inpatient and staff perceptions, with contradictory beliefs on the impact of smoking and vaping on mental health recovery (p=0.002) despite inpatients showing a strong interest and ability to quit (p=0.026). These findings informed the development of a novel, co-designed communication campaign aimed at educating both groups on the mental health benefits of quitting, cessation support and nicotine dependence management in mental health services.

Conclusions
Misconceptions and permissive attitudes towards smoking and vaping persist among inpatients and staff, reflecting gaps in knowledge and understanding. As part of a wider intervention, a communication campaign was implemented to address gaps in knowledge and shift cultural attitudes around smoking and vaping to holistically improve patient physical and mental health outcomes.

Introduction
Vaping is increasingly common among young people and has been perceived as safer than smoking. Emerging evidence suggests that single-use vapes are harmful to health and vaping acts as a gateway to tobacco use. It has been estimated that one in five young people who vape will start smoking. Little is known about factors influencing vaping and the support needed to reduce use among 12–18-year-old Tasmanians. This study aimed to work with school-aged Tasmanians to understand vaping behaviours and develop strategies to support vaping reduction in Tasmania.

Methods  
A mixed-methods Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach was used, comprising an online survey (quantitative), group discussions, and interviews (qualitative). Purposive, snowball sampling was used for recruitment. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively. Qualitative data underwent a combination of deductive and inductive thematic analysis, using NVivo.

Results 
Four Action Cycles (n=329) and an online survey (n=149) were completed. Integrated findings highlighted that vaping provides social capital, is driven by curiosity, provides stress relief, and remains easily accessible. Participants were aware of the harms but reported that current support is unrelatable and hard to access. They favour gripping, visual campaigns with real-life, relatable stories and direct health impacts. Motivation to quit is intrinsic, and no ‘one-size-fits-all’ works. Age-specific messaging with actionable guidance and emotional support was suggested. Access to vapes remained easy, and there was evidence of a shift to smoking tobacco and dual use. Insights informed Quit Tasmania’s anti-vaping campaign.

Conclusion 
This study shows that young people are key informants in addressing vaping and that co-designed solutions are important to them. Young people stress that motivation to quit is intrinsic and solutions must be “developed by young people for young people”. By ensuring young people's voices are heard and actioned, we can support them in reducing and ultimately removing vaping from their lives.