NSW Closure Powers for Premises Selling Illicit Tobacco

Public Health (Tobacco) Amendment (Illicit Tobacco) Bill 2025

Opposition Bill

8 Aug 2025: This bill has lapsed and is no longer under discussion.

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Council

Assent

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Topics

business closures public health retail licensing smoking products tobacco products

Introduced by: Kellie Sloane MP (LIB)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Official page: bill text and explanatory notes

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

The Health Secretary can order a business to close for up to 28 days; this applies if illicit tobacco or illegal smoking products are sold there.
The Health Secretary must give a copy of the closure application to the person in charge of the premises; this only happens if it is reasonably practicable.
The Health Secretary must take reasonable steps to notify the property owner of a closure order.
The Health Secretary can refuse a tobacco retail or wholesale licence; this applies if the applicant owns or manages premises subject to a closure order.

News articles and press releases

Public Health (Tobacco) Amendment (Illicit Tobacco) Bill 2025

Ms KELLIE SLOANE, Member for Vaucluse — 2025-08-08

Firstly, the bill proposes to amend existing offences within sections 6, 7 and 8 of the Public Health (Tobacco) Act relating to the sale of illicit tobacco. They include offences for selling cigarettes not in the manufacturer’s package, without health warnings or with prohibited words. The bill introduces a second or subsequent offence penalty for each of these sections of 2,800 penalty units, or about $308,000; or seven years imprisonment for an individual, or 14,000 penalty units; or $1.5 million fines for corporations. The higher penalties reflect that these would be situations where someone is continuing to break the law and correspond with the maximum penalties for vape offences.