About the update
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has provided NHMRC with funding to develop an updated NHMRC Statement (the updated NHMRC Statement) on Electronic Cigarettes to replace the previous 2022 NHMRC Statement. The aim of the updated NHMRC Statement is to better understand the current evidence relevant to the marketing and use of e-cigarettes and their impacts on individual and population health.
The updated NHMRC Statement will be developed in accordance with the 2016 NHMRC Standards for Guidelines. This involves a rigorous and transparent process to develop recommendations that consider contextual factors such as the balance of harms and benefits, values and preferences of individuals and cost and feasibility challenges.
The updated NHMRC Statement is anticipated to be released in 2027. Until it is published, the 2022 NHMRC Statement will remain in effect.
Development process
The development of the updated NHMRC Statement is being conducted consistent with NHMRC’s guideline development process.
NHMRC public health guidelines and advice follow a rigorous evidence-based approach and are informed by the judgement of multidisciplinary committees that incorporate the views of stakeholders and consumers.
The development process will include:
- Establishment of an Electronic Cigarettes Advisory Committee
- Scoping and prioritisation
- Commissioned evidence reviews
- Evidence-to-decision process
- Drafting of the updated NHMRC Statement on Electronic Cigarettes
- Stakeholder consultation
- Publication of the updated NHMRC Statement on Electronic Cigarettes.
Committee
An Electronic Cigarettes Advisory Committee has been established under section 39 of the National Health and Medical Research Council Act 1992 to provide advice on the development of the updated NHMRC Statement.
Members of the Committee were appointed based on their expertise in areas including research methodology and synthesis, tobacco control, e-cigarette advertising and promotion, research integrity and ethics, general practice, toxicology, pharmacology, respiratory disease, nicotine use in young people, addiction control, respiratory medicine, smoking cessation, consumer representation, biostatistics and epidemiology. Additionally, the Committee includes members with expertise in First Nations health, culturally and linguistically diverse groups, and lower socioeconomic groups. The Committee is chaired by an independent research methodology expert.
Further information on the committee can be found on the Electronic Cigarettes Advisory Committee 2025-27 web page.
Electronic Cigarettes contact list
The Electronic Cigarettes contact list provides stakeholders with information on the development process of the updated NHMRC Statement, including opportunities for stakeholder involvement. All interested stakeholders can subscribe to the Electronic Cigarettes contact list via the form below.
