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Legislation & regulations
In 1987, the Victorian parliament passed the Tobacco Act 1987. Since then reforms to the Act and its supporting regulations have been rolled out with the most recent amendments passed by the Victorian Parliament on 18 August 2009.The Tobacco Amendment (Protection of Children) Act 2009 includes:
- smoking bans in a motor vehicle if a person under the age of 18 years is present
- a ban on the sale of tobacco products from temporary outlets
- a power for the Minister for Health to ban the sale of certain tobacco products and packaging that appeal to young people
- a ban on the display of tobacco products at point-of-sale with an exemption for certified ‘specialist tobacconists’
- amendments to penalties and enforcement provisions including:
- amending the definition of ‘occupier’
- power for the Secretary of the Department of Health (formerly Department of Human Services) to request the names and addresses of persons supplied with tobacco in an electronic format
- increases to the maximum infringement penalties for a number of offences, and specific provisions for higher ‘body corporate’ offences.
These laws, with the exception of the point-of-sale tobacco display ban, commenced on 1 January 2010. The point-of-sale display law commenced on 1 January 2011.
An amended copy of The Tobacco Act 1987 or the Tobacco Amendment (Protection of Children) Act 2009 are available on the Victoria Legislation website. The Tobacco Regulations 2007 can also be found here. Fact sheets on recent amendments are available below.
Fact sheet: Ban on smoking in motor vehicles if a person under the age of 18 is present
Fact sheet: Ban on the sale of tobacco from temporary outlets
Fact sheet: Ministerial power to ban certain products
Fact sheet: Ban on the display of tobacco products
Fact sheet: Penalties and infringements
Penalty units
The value of a penalty unit is indexed every financial year by the Victorian Treasurer.
| Financial year | Penalty unit value |
|---|---|
| 2009-2010 | $116.82 |
| 2010-2011 | $119.45 |
| 2011-2012 | $122.14 |
| 2012-2013 | $140.84 |
Further information is available at the Chief Parliamentary Counsel website.
