Smoking and Vaping

We all deserve a clean, safe and healthy environment. Preventing the uptake and harms of smoking and vaping helps people to live healthier and longer lives. The South Coast Prevention Team work with settings in Bass Coast and South Gippsland shires to prevent and reduce smoking and vaping related harm. This includes working with workplaces, schools and early childhood services to implement the Smoking and Vaping area of the Achievement Program.

Vaping Prevention in Secondary Schools

The South Coast Prevention Team support secondary schools in Bass Coast and South Gippsland shires (South Coast) to deliver a whole-school approach to prevent vaping.

The team support secondary schools in the South Coast through the actions outlined in the Smoke and Vape-Free Toolkit For Secondary Schools. The toolkit supports the application of a whole-school approach to prevent vaping. This includes policy review, display of ‘No Smoking or Vaping’ signs, resources for parents and carers, and vaping prevention education resources.

The team is currently running the South Coast Smoke and Vape-Free School Challenge. The challenge encourages Year 7 and 8 students to take on the role of community health researchers to create innovative and engaging campaigns that promote a smoke and vape free future for everyone. For questions about the challenge or to get involved please contact prevention@basscoasthealth.org.au or 0438 057 040.

Useful school resources:
• Checklist for schools
• Get the facts on vaping
• Seeing Through the Haze school curriculum resources
• Smoking and vaping signage
• Talking to your teen about vaping
• Vaping support flyer for young people

Useful Resources and Links

• Achievement Program
• Get the facts on vaping
• No Smoking or Vaping signs, guides and factsheets
• Quit Victoria
• Talking to your teen about vaping
• Uncloud
• Victorian Smokefree Legislation
• World No Tobacco Day

Prevention of Vaping and E-Cigarette Use in Secondary Schools Initiative (2023 - 2024)

The Prevention of Vaping and E-cigarette Use in Secondary Schools initiative was delivered between March 2023 - June 2024 to combat the rising epidemic of e-cigarette and vaping use among young people.

The initiative addressed a gap which existed at the time in school-focused resources and support to prevent vaping. It comprised of two key elements; student vaping prevention workshops and a toolkit of resources for schools to implement a whole-school approach to prevent vaping.

The student workshops focused on the marketing tactics used by e-cigarette companies to target young people, the impacts of vaping, encouraging students to develop ways to say ‘no’ if offered an e-cigarette, and raising awareness of support services to stop vaping. The toolkit supported the application of a whole-school approach to prevent vaping. This included activities such as a school policy review, updating existing ‘No Smoking’ signs to ‘No Smoking or Vaping’, vaping prevention education resources that could be used across the school curriculum and resources for parents/carers.

Ten secondary schools were approached to participate in the initiative, with six taking up the opportunity. In total, 42 vaping prevention student workshops were delivered in these schools. Evaluation data was collected from students, school staff, workshop facilitators and parents and carers. Below is a snapshot of the key evaluation findings.


The evaluation data strongly indicates the Prevention of Vaping and E-cigarette Use in Secondary Schools initiatives was a needed and successful endeavour. The initiative significantly impacted students’ perception, knowledge and behaviours towards vaping by providing a platform for discussion, engagement, and access to current information and resources.

Whilst the initiative has now ended, the team continue to support secondary schools in the South Coast through the actions outlined in the Smoke and Vape-Free Toolkit For Secondary Schools.