Numerator: Secondary students aged 12 to 17 years (in Years 7 to 12) reporting their level of tobacco usage.
Denominator: Secondary students aged 12 to 17 years (in Years 7 to 12) surveyed across Australia at schools which were randomly sampled and weighted so as to represent geographic and educational dispersion of the populations.
Definitions
Proportion of 15-year-olds reporting having smoked once in the previous week:
- The proportion of 15-year-olds reporting having smoked at least one cigarette in the previous week is provided in each report from 1984 to 2017.
- In 2008 -2014, proportions were rounded in source documents to the first decimal place (prior to 2008 and in 2017 they were rounded to the nearest integer).
Confidence intervals:
- From 1984 onwards, 95% confidence interval estimates were provided for different proportions by age and sex.
- 95% confidence intervals are adjusted for the clustering of students at separate schools.
Inclusions/exclusions: Secondary school students from all states and territories are included, except the ACT in the period in 1984 to 1993, and South Australia in 1997. Prior to 2015, Year 7 students in Queensland where generally still in primary school; as a result, some primary school students are included. The ASSAD surveys only include those attending school on the day of the survey and having parental consent.
Coverage/Scope:
The ASSAD surveys had sample sizes of 21,904 (1984), 19,166 (1987), 24,892 (1990), 22,696 (1993), 29,850 (1996), 25,486 (1999), 23,417 (2002) 21,805 (2005), 24,408 (2008), 26,194 (2011), 23,007 (2014), and 19,115 (2017).
International data
“Daily smokers” are defined as the percentage of the population aged 15 years or over who reported that they were daily smokers.
International comparability is limited due to the lack of standardisation in the measurement of smoking habits in health interview surveys across OECD countries. There is variation in the wording of the questions, the response categories, and in related administrative methods.
The most recent year of data availability for international data were used, as listed.
Country |
Most recent reported year |
Australia |
2019 |
Canada |
2018 |
Chile |
Data not available |
France |
2019 |
Germany |
2017 |
Ireland |
2019 |
Japan |
2019 |
Korea (Republic of) |
2019 |
New Zealand |
2020 |
Singapore |
Data not available |
Sweden |
2019 |
The Netherlands |
2019 |
United Kingdom |
2019 |
United States of America |
2019 |
Uruguay |
Data not available |
Data sources
Australian data: Cancer Council Victoria, Tobacco and alcohol use among Australian secondary school students (ASSAD), 1984-2017. https://www.cancervic.org.au/research/behavioural/major-topics-projects/tobacco/australian-secondary-student-smoking-behaviours.html
International data: For 15-year-olds reporting having smoked at least once in the last 30 days, data is sourced from the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). https://stats.oecd.org/#
The ASSAD data for surveys from 1984 to 2017 were reported separately as follows (in reverse chronological order):
Heris C, Guerin N, Thomas D, Eades S, Chamberlain C, White V. The decline of smoking initiation among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander secondary students: implications for future policy. Aust N Z J Public Health 2020; 44:397-403.
Guerin, N. & White, V. (2020). ASSAD 2017 Statistics & Trends: Australian Secondary Students’ Use of Tobacco, Alcohol, Over-the-counter Drugs, and Illicit Substances. Second Edition. Cancer Council Victoria.
White V, Williams T. Australian secondary school students’ use of tobacco, alcohol, and over-the- counter and illicit substances in 2014. Prepared for: Drug Strategy Branch Australian Government Department of Health. Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Cancer Council Victoria: Melbourne, Australia, October 2016.
White V, Bariola E. Australian secondary school students’ use of tobacco, alcohol, and over-the- counter and illicit substances in 2011. Prepared for: Drug Strategy Branch Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Cancer Council Victoria: Melbourne, Australia, December 2012.
White V, Smith G. Australian secondary school students’ use of tobacco, alcohol, and over-the- counter and illicit substances in 2008. Prepared for: Drug Strategy Branch. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Cancer Council Victoria: Melbourne, Australia, September 2009.
White V, Hayman J. Australian secondary school students' use of over-the-counter and illicit substances in 2005. Monograph Series No. 60. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing: Canberra, Australia, 2006.
White V, Hayman J. Australian secondary school students' use of over-the-counter and illicit substances in 2002. Monograph Series No. 56. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing: Canberra, Australia, 2004.
White V. Australian secondary school students' use of over-the-counter and illicit substances in 1999. Monograph Series No. 46. Prepared for: Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care. Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria: Melbourne, Australia, May 2001.
Letcher T, White V. Australian secondary school students' use of over-the-counter and illicit substances in 1996. Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria: Melbourne, Australia, November 1998.
White V, Hayman J. Smoking behaviours of Australian secondary students in 2005. Prepared for: Drug Strategy Branch. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer. Cancer Council Victoria; 2006.
White V, Hayman J. Smoking behaviours of Australian secondary students in 2002. National Drug Strategy Monograph Series No. 54. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing; 2004.
Hill D, White V, Effendi Y. Changes in the use of tobacco among Australian secondary students: results of the 1999 prevalence study and comparisons with earlier years. Aust N Z J Public Health 2002; 26(2):156-63.
Hill D, White V, Letcher T. Tobacco use among Australian secondary students in 1996. Aust N Z J Public Health 1999; 23(3):252-9.
Hill D, White V, Segan C. Prevalence of cigarette smoking among Australian secondary school students in 1993. Aust J Public Health 1995; 19(5):445-9.
Hill D, White V, Williams R, Gardner G. Tobacco and alcohol use among Australian secondary school students in 1990. Med J Aust 1993; 158(4): 228-34.
Hill D, White V, Pain M, Gardner G. Tobacco and alcohol use among Australian secondary school children in 1987. Med J Aust 1990; 152(3): 124-30.
White V, Hill D, Gardner G, Pain M. Cigarette and alcohol consumption among Australian secondary school children in 1987. Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria: Melbourne, Australia, 1990. Hill D, Wilcox S, Gardner G, Houston J. Tobacco and alcohol use among Australian secondary school children. Med J Aust 1987; 146(3): 125-30.
Hill D, Wilcox S, Gardner G, Houston J. Cigarette and alcohol consumption among Australian secondary school children in 1984. Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria: Melbourne, Australia, 1986.