Redesigning the tobacco supply system in Australia

Principal Advisor: Professor Coral Gartner

Phone: 07 3346 5478

Research group: NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame

Organisational unit: School of Public Health

Tobacco smoking remains a leading preventable cause of early death and disability. Despite substantial success in reducing smoking, it also remains one of the most persistent and challenging public health issues due to the activities of commercial actors in opposing effective tobacco control measures. Smoked tobacco products are currently supplied in Australia under a commercial supply model with relatively few restrictions compared to other addictive and dangerous substances. This poses challenges for achieving very low smoking prevalence targets because maintaining retail profits from tobacco products requires maintenance the consumer market for these products. This thesis will examine ways to facilitate a reduction in the smoked tobacco market while considering the issues affecting retailers who currently supply these products on a standard 'for profit' basis. It will explore innovative alternative models to commercial for-profit supply and options for implementing them.