Revealed: How well is your state or territory responding to the illicit tobacco crisis?

Each Australian state and territory has been ranked by experts on their track record in tackling the current illicit tobacco crisis.

A definitive list has recently been published by the Australian Council on Smoking and Health, categorizing each state and territory according to their effectiveness in combating the illegal cigarette trade.

The list covers law enforcement interventions, public health measures and the legal bases states and territories have used to try to crack down on an increasingly violent criminal industry in recent years.

According to the ACOSH Illicit Tobacco Ladder, Queensland and South Australia were ranked 1st and 2nd respectively due to their heavy focus on “strong enforcement” practices.

ACOSH said Queensland was “leading the ladder with proactive, rapid responses to illicit trade, backed by the strongest enforcement panel in the country and the most boots on the ground”.

South Australia also demonstrates “strong enforcement, online sales bans and clear ministerial leadership”.

ACOSH CEO Laura Hunter said exemplary states such as top-ranked Queensland and second-ranked SA contained the answers other states and territories were looking for.

“We put this ladder together because we wanted to put it out there to show how well governments across the country are working to control supply, enforce laws and impose real penalties,” Ms. Hunter said.

“There’s incredible ministerial leadership in Queensland and South Australia, they absolutely want to tackle this problem. They’re dedicating money and resources to enforcement. We’re seeing stores being closed every day,” he said.

“We are seeing real impacts in the community and want other jurisdictions to do the same.”

According to the standings, “you could park a few semi-trailers” between third-placed NSW and the two leaders.

“He needs to seriously step up his game with more enforcement resources, tougher home penalties and fines that have real impact,” the ruling reads.

Ms Hunter said although there was work to be done, NSW demonstrated some strengths.

“NSW has tenancy termination powers that provide protection for landlords, but in other states you also have penalties for landlords who knowingly allow their tenants to sell tobacco, so it needs to do both,” Ms Hunter said.

USYD Professor of Public Health Becky Freeman has been researching tobacco and vaping control for more than 25 years and said the ranking system exposed Australia’s “patchwork approach” to dealing with what has clearly become a national problem.

“There are some states that have tackled this issue or are trying to tackle it, and others are really dragging their feet even though they have examples,” Professor Freeman said.

“My biggest frustration here, being based in NSW, is that it has taken so long to implement a tobacco licensing system. This only happened in 2025, whereas states like Tasmania, WA and Queensland have been using licensing systems for years,” he said.

Professor Freeman said there was a “narrative” that the illegal tobacco trade was a “black market” in Australia, but it was clearly visible in legally established businesses across the country.

“I find it quite funny the fact that some people continue to call it the black market, because it’s clearly a face-to-face market. It’s part of the business model now, retailers are just selling illegal goods that aren’t taxed… you don’t feel like you’re doing anything wrong or dealing with criminals,” he said.

Professor Freeman condemned recent claims by federal Liberal MP Mary Aldred that reducing the national fuel tax would ease the burden law enforcement now face and “take sugar off the table” as an incentive for criminal networks to seize the opportunity for easy profits.

“It’s really tempting to think that if ordinary cigarettes are expensive and illegal cigarettes are cheap, then lowering the tax will get rid of the illicit trade. It’s really simple and that strikes me as having political appeal,” Professor Freeman said.

“I don’t understand the public health logic of competing with these criminal networks. You essentially drive down cigarette prices across the board. There’s certainly room for illicit tobacco products to get cheaper, they haven’t quite hit the bottom,” he said.

“It will not be possible to reduce smoking rates by making cigarettes cheaper.”

The ACT and Northern Territory are the two worst-performing territories, described as being “well off the pace” of others, coming in at 7th and 8th respectively on the list.

The rankings decision says the ACT “talked a good game but didn’t play it”, citing the lack of strong penalties and a minimal record of closure orders.

ACOSH said the NT “has not made legislative change” and “needs to invest heavily in enforcement”.

Ms Hunter said the main factors contributing to the growing illicit cigarette crisis in the lagging states were “weak licensing, too many retailers, not enough enforcement on the ground and inconsistent penalties that fail to deter illegal operators”.

Under-minister for Customs Julian Hill MP said the independent review might be “disturbing for some” but the ACOSH scorecard was a necessary tool for governments.

“Joint efforts by Commonwealth, State and Territory agencies are seeing strong results, increasing the risk for offenders, reducing profits and putting upward pressure on the prices of illicit tobacco products,” Mr Hill said.

“Governments should never surrender health policy to organized crime or condemn the next generation of Australians to the scourge of tobacco addiction and the resulting burden of disease and premature death.”