Consultation narratives frame responsibility for Australia’s tobacco endgame

Organisations advocating for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health and National Health Advocacy described commercial tobacco dependence as a product of corporate power, colonial structures and unequal social conditions, while commercial and industry-aligned organisations largely placed responsibility on consumers and warned against policies that might restrict choice or encourage illicit trade. The finding emerged from a qualitative analysis of 20 submissions to consultations that informed Australia’s National Tobacco Strategy 2023–2030.

The study examined how organisations involved in Australian tobacco policy discourse defined the problem, assigned responsibility and justified proposed solutions. Using Template Analysis informed by the Narrative Policy Framework and the Decolonising Framework, researchers focused on narratives supporting policies intended to end or eradicate commercial tobacco. Indigenous perspectives were incorporated through Indigenous researchers’ involvement in coding, interpretation, the order in which findings were reported, quotation selection and a dedicated decolonising analysis.

Aboriginal Community Controlled Health and National Health Advocacy organisations framed commercial tobacco use through structural, commercial and colonial determinants. Their narratives emphasised power and control, industry responsibility, health equity and community authority. They supported measures including supply reduction, product regulation, fewer retail outlets, phased withdrawal of commercial tobacco supply, co-designed targets and implementation led by communities. These positions linked the availability and addictiveness of commercial products to industry conduct rather than treating individual purchasing decisions as the sole cause of harm.

By contrast, commercial and industry-aligned actors emphasised consumer choice, the burden of regulation and the possibility of illicit trade. Some promoted expanded access to electronic cigarettes as a solution, even as the study notes that evidence about their health risks was accumulating and uncertainty remained regarding long-term and population-level effects. Their narratives assigned limited responsibility to commercial industry practices. Themes concerning power-sharing, self-determination and community control were largely absent from these submissions, illustrating a sharp difference over which authorities should determine the boundaries of tobacco policy.

The authors interpret the consultation debate as a contest over responsibility, legitimate authority and the range of policies considered possible. They argue that an equity-oriented narrative could connect documented industry conduct with structural reform, Indigenous sovereignty and practical implementation. Such a narrative would also need to distinguish an end to commercial industry activity from a prohibition directed at consumers. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership was presented as central to the legitimacy and equity of developing endgame policy.

The research was based on a purposive sample of consultation submissions rather than a representative survey of all participants or Australian public opinion. As a qualitative analysis, it did not measure policy effects, compare changes over time or establish the effectiveness or feasibility of any individual intervention. It instead identified competing framings within a defined set of organisational submissions, showing that proposals for ending commercial tobacco were accompanied by fundamentally different accounts of power, responsibility and community authority.

Subject of Research: Qualitative analysis of narratives in submissions supporting Australia’s commercial tobacco endgame policy consultations

Article Title: Narratives for a commercial tobacco endgame: a qualitative analysis of consultation submissions

Article References: Perusco, A., Gartner, C., Kennedy, M., Bali, A. S., & Maddox, R. (2026). Narratives for a commercial tobacco endgame: a qualitative analysis of consultation submissions. BMC Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-29750-7

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12889-026-29750-7

Keywords: commercial tobacco, tobacco endgame, health equity, Indigenous sovereignty, policy narratives, tobacco regulation, electronic cigarettes, Australia, industry responsibility, Narratives, commercial, tobacco