Young People
This section contains information about the smoking patterns of Australian secondary school students who are under 18 years of age.
Data on Australian secondary school students aged 12-17 years is derived from the 2022-23 Australian Secondary School Students’ Alcohol and Drug (ASSAD) Survey (Cancer Council Victoria, 2024).
What proportion of Australian secondary school students have smoked tobacco?
In 2022/2023, 13% of Australian secondary school students aged 12-17 years reported having ever smoked even part of a tobacco cigarette in their lifetime. Approximately 8% had smoked in the past year, 3% in the past month, and 2% in the past week.
Source: Cancer Council Victoria (2023). ASSAD 2022–2023: Australian secondary school students’ use of tobacco and e-cigarettes.
Are male or female Australian secondary school students more likely to have used tobacco?
In 2022/23, there were no significant differences in tobacco smoking between male and female secondary school students aged 12-17 years.
Source: Cancer Council Victoria (2023). ASSAD 2022–2023: Australian secondary school students’ use of tobacco and e-cigarettes.
Please note: “Other” and “not stated” genders were excluded from analyses due to small numbers. This FAQ uses data from the Australian Secondary Students’ Alcohol and Drug Survey, in which differences were considered significant at p<0.01.
Are younger or older Australian secondary school students more likely to have smoked tobacco?
In 2022/23, older secondary students (16-17 years) were significantly more likely than younger students (12-15 years) to report having smoked a tobacco cigarette in their lifetime, the past year, past month, and past week.
Source: Cancer Council Victoria (2023). ASSAD 2022–2023: Australian secondary school students’ use of tobacco and e-cigarettes.
Please note: This FAQ uses data from the Australian Secondary Students’ Alcohol and Drug Survey, in which differences were considered significant at p<0.01.
Has the proportion of tobacco smoking among Australian secondary school students changed over time?
The proportion of Australian secondary school students who smoke tobacco is decreasing. Prevalence of lifetime, past year, past month, and past week tobacco smoking was significantly lower in 2022-23 compared to 2017.
Source: Cancer Council Victoria (2023). ASSAD 2022–2023: Australian secondary school students’ use of tobacco and e-cigarettes.
Please note: caution should be exercised when interpreting the trend between 2017 and 2022/23 due to changes in survey methodology, additional time lag between the 2017 – 2023/23 surveys (due to COVID-19), data collection being spread across two academic school years in 2022/23, and the smaller number of schools and students included in the 2022/23 sample.