Category: Smoking Facts & Awareness

⚠️ SMOKING KILLS — and it burns your money too. The cost of smoking Australia-wide starts with the world’s highest cigarette prices, which means quitting delivers a life-changing pay rise. Free help to quit: Quitline 13 78 48 or quit.org.au.

What smoking costs your wallet

With a pack of 25 cigarettes commonly costing $40–$55+ in Australia, the numbers are staggering:

• Half a pack a day: roughly $7,500–$10,000 per year
• A pack a day: roughly $15,000–$20,000 per year
• Over 10 years: $150,000–$200,000 — a house deposit, gone in smoke
• Over 30 years: potentially half a million dollars, before counting interest

Had that money been invested instead, a pack-a-day smoker could be hundreds of thousands of dollars wealthier in retirement. Try the savings calculator on quit.org.au — the number shocks most people.

Hidden financial costs

• Higher insurance premiums — smokers pay far more for life, health and income protection insurance.
• Medical bills — from GP visits and medications to hospital stays for smoking-caused diseases.
• Lost income — more sick days and earlier forced retirement through illness.
• Cleaning and damage — smoke-damaged clothes, cars, homes and deposits lost on rentals.
• Higher vaping costs for dual users — many smokers who vape end up paying for both (see Vaping vs Smoking).

What smoking costs your health

No amount of money buys back health: around 10 years of life expectancy lost on average, decades of poorer breathing and energy, and high risks of cancer, heart disease, stroke and emphysema — detailed in Smoking Kills: The Real Health Cost and How Smoking Damages Your Lungs, Heart and Brain.

What quitting pays you back

• Day 1: $40–$55+ saved — enough for a family dinner out.
• Month 1: $1,200–$1,700 — a weekend away.
• Year 1: $15,000–$20,000 — a car, a holiday, or serious debt reduction.
• Plus: better health within hours (see the quit timeline), better skin, teeth and fitness, and a smoke-free home for your kids (see secondhand smoke).

Tip: set up an automatic transfer of your old “cigarette money” into a separate savings account on quit day. Watching it grow is powerful motivation.

Cost of Smoking Australia: Ready to Save Both?

Follow How to Quit Smoking in Australia: A Step-by-Step Guide and visit our Quit Smoking Support page. Every smoke-free day pays you twice — in health and in dollars.

Related reading

• How to Quit Smoking in Australia: A Step-by-Step Guide
• What Happens to Your Body When You Quit (Timeline)
• Smoking Kills: The Real Health Cost of Every Cigarette
• Smoking and Mental Health: Breaking the Stress Myth

The cost of smoking Australia-wide is measured in dollars and years of life. Start saving both with free quit support and smoking FAQs.

Remember: understanding cost of smoking australia is the first step to protecting yourself and the people you love.

Cost of Smoking – Key Takeaway

The cost of smoking is measured in dollars and years of life: over $15,000 a year and a decade of life expectancy for pack-a-day smokers. Redirect the cost of smoking into savings from your quit date — set up an auto-transfer, watch it grow, and call Quitline 13 78 48 to make it permanent.

Turn the cost of smoking into the savings of quitting: open a separate account, auto-transfer your old cigarette money weekly, and watch freedom grow. Then call Quitline 13 78 48 and make this the year you quit for good.

Start saving today: your health and wallet win together.

Smoking kills. Strictly 18+. For free help to quit, call Quitline on 13 78 48 or visit quit.org.au.

⚠️ SMOKING KILLS — and vaping is not risk-free either. In Australia, nicotine vapes are prescription-only medicines, not consumer products. Our vaping vs smoking comparison below is honest and evidence-based. For free help to quit smoking or vaping, call Quitline 13 78 48 or visit quit.org.au.

The short answer

Combustible cigarettes remain far more deadly than vapes because of tar, carbon monoxide and the thousands of chemicals in smoke. But “less harmful than smoking” is not the same as safe — vaping carries its own serious risks, and the long-term effects are still unknown.

What is in vape aerosol?

Vape aerosol is not “harmless water vapour”. It typically contains:

• Nicotine — highly addictive, harmful to adolescent brain development, raises heart rate and blood pressure.
• Propylene glycol and glycerol — safe to eat, but heating and inhaling them creates new chemicals including formaldehyde.
• Flavouring chemicals — such as diacetyl, linked to serious lung disease (“popcorn lung”) when inhaled.
• Heavy metals — including nickel, tin and lead from heating coils.
• Ultrafine particles — inhaled deep into the lungs.

Known health risks of vaping

• Nicotine addiction — many vapes contain very high nicotine levels; dependence can develop in weeks.
• Lung injury — vaping-associated lung injuries (EVALI) have hospitalised thousands worldwide.
• Heart and circulation — nicotine constricts blood vessels and stresses the cardiovascular system.
• Poisoning risk — e-liquids can fatally poison small children if swallowed; always store securely.
• Gateway effect — young people who vape are significantly more likely to take up smoking.

Can vaping help you quit smoking?

Some smokers have quit using vapes, but Australian health authorities recommend proven methods first: Quitline counselling, your GP, and nicotine replacement therapy (patches, gum, lozenges), which double or triple quit success. Since 2024, Australia has heavily restricted vapes: disposable vapes are banned, flavours are limited, and nicotine vapes require a prescription and are sold only through pharmacies.

What about the people around you?

Secondhand vape aerosol exposes bystanders — including children — to nicotine and fine particles. Just like secondhand smoke, it should be kept away from kids, pregnant women and non-users.

Vaping vs Smoking: The Bottom Line

• If you don’t smoke — don’t vape. It is addictive and harmful.
• If you smoke — the goal should be quitting nicotine entirely. Talk to your GP or Quitline about proven options.
• If you vape and want to stop — Quitline now supports vapers too: 13 78 48.

Read next: What Happens to Your Body When You Quit and Smoking and Mental Health: Breaking the Stress Myth.

Related reading

• Smoking Kills: The Real Health Cost of Every Cigarette
• Secondhand Smoke: Protecting Your Family
• How to Quit Smoking in Australia: A Step-by-Step Guide
• The True Cost of Smoking in Australia

Vaping vs smoking is not a close contest for safety — but quitting nicotine entirely wins. Get free quit support or read our smoking FAQs.

Remember: understanding vaping vs smoking is the first step to protecting yourself and the people you love.

Vaping vs Smoking – Key Takeaway

Vaping vs smoking comes down to this: neither is safe, and quitting nicotine entirely is the healthiest choice. Talk to your GP or Quitline 13 78 48 about proven methods instead of switching addictions.

Still weighing vaping vs smoking? Talk to your GP for personalised advice, and remember Quitline 13 78 48 now supports vapers too — free, confidential and proven to work.

Smoking kills. Strictly 18+. For free help to quit smoking or vaping, call Quitline on 13 78 48 or visit quit.org.au.

⚠️ SMOKING KILLS — and secondhand smoke kills non-smokers too. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. To protect your family, the best step is to quit: call Quitline 13 78 48 or visit quit.org.au.

What is secondhand smoke?

Secondhand (passive) smoke is the combination of smoke from the burning end of a cigarette plus smoke exhaled by the smoker. It contains the same 7,000+ chemicals as inhaled smoke, including at least 69 carcinogens — and non-smokers breathing it face serious health risks.

How secondhand smoke harms adults

• Lung cancer: living with a smoker raises a non-smoker’s lung cancer risk by around 20–30%.
• Heart disease and stroke: regular exposure damages blood vessels and increases clotting.
• Breathing problems: aggravated asthma, bronchitis and eye, nose and throat irritation.

How secondhand smoke harms children

Children are the most vulnerable victims because their lungs and immune systems are still developing and they breathe faster than adults:

• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): babies exposed to smoke face a higher risk.
• Asthma: more frequent and more severe asthma attacks; smoke can trigger asthma in previously healthy children.
• Chest infections: more bronchitis, pneumonia and middle-ear infections (glue ear).
• Slower lung growth: lasting effects on lung development.

Pregnant women should also avoid smoke entirely — see Smoking During Pregnancy: Risks Every Parent Must Know.

Myths that put families at risk

• “Smoking in another room is fine.” False — smoke drifts through doors and ventilation systems.
• “Opening a window clears it.” False — most smoke remains, and opening a car window barely helps.
• “Air purifiers remove it.” False — they cannot remove all gases and fine particles.
• “Thirdhand smoke isn’t real.” False — toxic residue lingers on walls, furniture, clothes and car seats for months.

In Australia, smoking in cars with children is illegal in every state and territory — with good reason.

5 practical steps to protect your family

1. Make your home and car 100% smoke-free — no exceptions, even when kids aren’t present.
2. Smoke well away from doors and windows if you must smoke, and change clothes afterwards.
3. Never smoke around pregnant women, babies or children — including outdoors near prams.
4. Ask visitors to smoke outside, away from the house.
5. Quit smoking — the only way to fully remove the risk. Start with How to Quit Smoking in Australia.

Secondhand Smoke: The Best Protection Is Quitting

Children of parents who quit have fewer infections, fewer asthma attacks and are themselves less likely to take up smoking. Our Quit Smoking Support page lists free Australian services, and the quit timeline shows how quickly everyone’s health improves.

Related reading

• Smoking Kills: The Real Health Cost of Every Cigarette
• Smoking During Pregnancy: Risks Every Parent Must Know
• How to Quit Smoking in Australia: A Step-by-Step Guide
• The True Cost of Smoking in Australia

Secondhand smoke harms everyone it touches — quitting protects your whole family. See free quit support and smoking FAQs.

Remember: understanding secondhand smoke is the first step to protecting yourself and the people you love.

Secondhand Smoke – Key Takeaway

Secondhand smoke has no safe level: keep homes and cars 100% smoke-free, never smoke near children or pregnant women, and remember quitting is the only full fix. Call Quitline 13 78 48 for free family-centred help today.

Protect the people you love from secondhand smoke starting today: declare your home and car smoke-free zones, ask visitors to smoke outside, and call Quitline 13 78 48 for free help quitting together.

Smoking kills. Strictly 18+. For free help to quit, call Quitline on 13 78 48 or visit quit.org.au.