Sale and Supply of tobacco products and smoking implements

Under the Act, it is illegal for a person or a licence holder to sell or supply a tobacco product or smoking implement to a child, a person under the age of 18 years.

If you are caught selling tobacco products or smoking implements to a child, you and/or the licence holder may be issued with an ‘On the Spot’ fine of $1,000 or you may be prosecuted. The penalty for the sale or supply of tobacco products or smoking implements to a child is a maximum of $10,000 per offence for an individual and up to $40,000 per offence for a business.

No. An adult who supplies tobacco products to a child may be prosecuted. You should not sell tobacco products or smoking implements to any person who you believe will supply that tobacco product or smoking implement to a person under the age of 18 years.

Yes. You should ask for proof of identification from anyone asking for tobacco products or smoking implements that appears to be under the age of 25 years or whom you believe is not of legal age to purchase tobacco products or smoking implements.

You must not sell tobacco products or smoking implements to any customer who cannot produce photographic identification when requested, or if the identification does not include their date of birth, or if the identification appears to have been tampered with or looks fake or looks like it has been forged.

• A current Australian driver’s licence.
• A current passport.
• A current photographic proof of age card issued under the Liquor Control Regulations 1989 or proof of age cards issued by equivalent State or Territory governments.
• A current photo card issued under the Western Australian Photo Card Act 2014 

NOTE: ID must be current and include a photograph of the person and the person’s date of birth. A University or College Student Card is not an approved proof of age card.

Licence holders and their adult employees may sell tobacco products, however it is important to note that a tobacco retailer must not authorise or allow employees under the age of 18 years to sell tobacco products.

Tobacco licence holders have a responsibility to ensure that:

• tobacco products are only available from one place of sale in the premises; and
• all employees receive adequate training on the laws about selling tobacco products. Refer to the section of this document on staff training.

• Any tobacco product that does not comply with plain packaging (external site) laws (Plain Packing Act 2011) and health warnings requirements (Competition and Consumer (tobacco) Information Standard 2011).
• Fruit and confectionery flavoured cigarettes
• Single cigarettes
• Cigarettes in a package containing fewer than 20 cigarettes. This includes packages that are designed or are capable of being split into 2 or more portions that contain fewer than 20 cigarettes

Yes. Any food, toy or other product that is not a tobacco product, but is designed to resemble a tobacco product or package.

E-cigarette devices have been found to resemble a tobacco product and are not permitted to be sold by tobacco or other general retailers in WA.

No. In WA it is an offence to distribute or supply free tobacco products. Prizes, gifts and vouchers cannot be offered in connection with the purchase of a tobacco product.

It is also prohibited for tobacco products to be included in shopper loyalty reward schemes. The only exception is rewards points received when using a credit card as a method of payment, such as bank reward programs and frequent flyer points.