Vapes, or e-cigarettes, are electronic devices used to inhale a liquid (vaping substance) in the form of vapour. This liquid usually contains nicotine.
Vaping goods include vaping substances, vaping accessories, and vaping devices.
In NSW, nicotine-containing and zero-nicotine vape goods can only be purchased from pharmacies. It is illegal for tobacconists, vape shops, and convenience store retailers to sell any type of vaping good, regardless of its nicotine content.
Restrictions were introduced to prevent youth and young adults from taking up vaping. However, therapeutic vapes remain accessible for smoking cessation or the management of nicotine dependence under appropriate healthcare guidance. Vaping goods are restricted to these specific medical purposes and cannot be supplied for recreational use.
From 1 October 2024, vapes with a nicotine concentration of 20mg/mL or less will be available from Australian pharmacies to patients 18 years of age or older without a prescription. A pharmacist must evaluate the patient's need and determine if it is clinically appropriate before supplying the good.
Vapes for patients under 18 years and/or with a nicotine concentration of more than 20 mg/mL will require a prescription from a medical or nurse practitioner.
Vaping goods sold by pharmacies must comply with certain requirements. It is illegal for a pharmacy to supply a non-compliant vaping good.
Vaping goods cannot contain nicotine concentrations higher than 100mg/mL, and are only allowed to have the flavours, mint, tobacco, or menthol. There are also strict requirements on the packaging and labelling of vaping goods.
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All vaping goods, irrespective of the nicotine content, are unregistered products. Pharmacists can only supply or dispense unregistered therapeutic vaping goods via the TGA Authorised Prescriber (AP) scheme or Special Access Scheme (SAS).
Pharmacists can search the SAS and AP Online system to:
A SAS or AP approval is not required to supply an unapproved therapeutic vaping device. However, these devices can only be supplied for smoking cessation or the management of nicotine dependence.
For more information, see SAS and AP Online System Information and Prescribe an unapproved therapeutic good (health practitioners).
A pharmacy must be registered with NSW Health as a tobacco/e-cigarette retailer. Registration and provision of a Retailer Identification Number (RIN) is through the Service NSW website.
Pharmacists may obtain unregistered vaping goods prior to receiving a prescription or request from a patient.
Only vaping goods listed on the TGA List of notified vapes can be supplied or dispensed to a person. These vaping goods comply with applicable standards for supply in Australia for smoking cessation or the management of nicotine dependence. These standards include the TGA's Therapeutic Goods Order no. 110, or in the case of devices with the TGA Essential Principles, or where applicable, the Therapeutic Goods (Medical Device Standard - Therapeutic Vaping Devices) Order 2023 (MDSO). More information is available on the TGA's Vapes: information for sponsors, importers, and manufacturers.
Vaping goods may be obtained:
Only finished products are legally permitted to be dispensed. Pharmacists cannot dispense component ingredients for patients to mix themselves.
Vaping goods including associated devices and accessories must not be visible to the public from inside or outside the premises and can only be sold from one point of sale (cash register). They cannot be included in any shopper loyalty program.
Vaping goods must be stored in a room or enclosure to which the public does not have access, and apart from food. They also must not be used or disposed of in any place or in any manner likely to constitute a risk to the public.
All vaping goods must be supplied in containers with a child-resistant closure as required under the Poisons Standard (the SUSMP). Further information on packaging requirements of vaping goods refer to the TGA's Therapeutic Goods Order 110 (TGO 110).
The advertising of vapes is prohibited except in very limited circumstances. See the TGA website for more information.
Vaping goods can be supplied by a pharmacist as a Schedule 3 medicine when the following requirements are met:
Pharmacists should ensure that all other requirements relating to Schedule 3 medicines are met, including the requirement for the pharmacist to personally hand out the product.
On the presentation of a valid prescription, a pharmacist may supply a vaping good as a Schedule 4 medicine, provided that the:
A compounded medicine can be prepared only in circumstances when a similar commercially available finished product medicine is unavailable, or clinically unsuitable for that patient.
A vaping good may be extemporaneously compounded only when:
All compounding must comply with the Pharmacy Board of Australia Guidelines on compounding of medicines.
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Under the NSW Public Health Tobacco Act 2008, the sale of vaping goods to individuals under the age of 18 is prohibited, unless the good is an authorised product. Authorised products include devices or accessories that are therapeutic goods either:
Pharmacists can only dispense therapeutic vaping goods to persons under 18 years old when they are prescribed by a medical or nurse practitioner and are approved under the Authorised Prescriber (AP) scheme or Special Access Scheme (SAS) pathways.
Prescribers must obtain approval via the following pathways:
In all circumstances, the indication must be for smoking cessation or the management of nicotine dependence.
For more information, please refer to the NSW Health Guide to Support Young People to Quit E-Cigarettes.
From 1 October 2024, therapeutic vapes with a nicotine concentration of 20mg/mL or less will be available in pharmacies to patients 18 years of age or older without a prescription. To supply a vaping good to a patient without a prescription, a pharmacist must be satisfied that the need is clinically appropriate and conditions as listed above under Schedule 3 supply are met.
All therapeutic vapes containing a nicotine concentration greater than 20mg/mL or more, or for patients under 18 years old, must be supplied on a prescription by a medical or nurse practitioner. To prescribe to patients under 18 years old refer to Sale and supply of vaping goods to minors on this page.
As with all scheduled medicines, the choice of whether to prescribe is up to the prescriber. Scheduled medicines must not be prescribed merely because a patient requests them, nor in a quantity or for a purpose that does not accord with the recognised therapeutic standard for the medicine.
All vaping goods, irrespective of their nicotine content, are unregistered products. To prescribe a therapeutic vaping substance, a prescriber must apply via the TGA Authorised Prescriber (AP)scheme or Special Access Scheme (SAS) pathways. For more information and access to these pathways, see SAS and AP Online System Information and Prescribe an unapproved therapeutic good (health practitioners).
A SAS or AP approval is not required to supply an unapproved therapeutic vaping device. However, these devices can only be supplied for smoking cessation or the management of nicotine dependence.
Information and guidance for smoking cessation can be found at:
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Wholesalers of nicotine vaping goods must hold a licence to supply by wholesale a restricted substance for therapeutic use. See Licences and authorisations.
The wholesaler must obtain the pharmacy's Retailer Identification Number (RIN) before supplying any vaping good or accessory.
Wholesalers are required to provide records of receipts and supplies to the Pharmaceutical Services Unit in February and August each year.
The eCigarette Compliance Program will monitor and support the regulatory compliance of stakeholders involved in the lawful supply of vaping goods in NSW. For more details, refer to the Pharmacy factsheet and self-assessment (last updated 15 November 2024).
If you need further information or to request a copy of the pharmacy audit tool, please email the eCigarette compliance team at: MOH-PharmaceuticalServices@health.nsw.gov.au