A new co-designed and interactive vaping prevention program has significantly reduced adolescent e-cigarette use (vaping), new research from the Matilda Centre has found.
The research, published in the Lancet Public Health, involved a randomised controlled trial among >5000 students across three states in Australia. Students received either their regular school health education or the OurFutures Vaping program.
The program, which was co-designed with students and teachers, delivers both knowledge and practical skills such as critical thinking and assertive refusal. The program also includes dedicated curriculum-aligned classroom activities to reinforce learning.
Twelve month follow ups found that teenagers who received the OurFutures Vaping program were 65% less likely to vape compared to their peers who received standard health education. Additionally, there was high support for the program from students and their teachers, with over 80% approval of the program from both roles.
Lead researcher, Dr Lauren Gardner, who presented the results at Parliament House alongside Federal Minister for Health, Disability and Ageing Mark Butler MP in July, says that the program’s results are a key example of the importance of developing programs for young people, with young people.
“The program centres on a cartoon story about a group of teenagers as they navigate everyday life experiences and start to be exposed to vaping. Importantly, the characters and storylines were co-designed with students, ensuring they are relatable and that students feel confident to use the skills in their own lives,” says Dr Gardner.
“This is currently the only school-based program in Australia that is proven to reduce students’ likelihood of vaping.”
Preventing vaping before it begins is beneficial for young people’s physical and mental health. A growing body of research around the world is finding links between vaping and mental ill-health, cigarette smoking, and in some cases, serious illness or death.
Photo: Dr Lauren Gardner stands with Minister for Health, Disability and Ageing Mark Butler MP as they announce the trial results for the OurFutures Vaping program.
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LinkFor Associate Professor Emily Stockings, Program Lead in Smoking, Vaping and Mental Health at the Matilda Centre, delaying any nicotine uptake in young people can reduce the impact of nicotine dependence on their health long term.
“I’ve seen the devastating consequences of lifelong nicotine addiction in my research, which often started during the teenage years with just one cigarette at a party from a friend. Vapes have the same devastating potential to hook a new generation,” says Associate Professor Stockings.
“With this program, schools now have an effective, evidence-based program that can avert young people away from e-cigarettes and to give them a future that looks different.”
“This same effective model can be applied to new and emerging nicotine products, tobacco and other drugs to ensure we stay ahead of the game.”
Photo: Members of the OurFutures Vaping team standing in front of the OurFutures launch in August 2025.
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LinkThe promising results are another example of the OurFutures prevention model, which has now had more than 10 randomised control trials investigating its effectiveness across mental health and substance use prevention in schools across Australia.
The model has been effective at reducing mental distress and use of substances such as MDMA, alcohol, cannabis and vaping.
Professor Nicola Newton, Director of Prevention at the Matilda Centre and co-founder of the OurFutures Institute, says that the continued success of the OurFutures model is due to meeting young people where they are at instead of lecturing them about substance use.
“The OurFutures prevention model is one of the most effective drug prevention models world-wide. What makes the programs unique, is that they are co-designed with young people, for young people. They incorporate a harm-minimisation, versus abstinence-based goal, and are grounded in social influence theory,” says Professor Newton.
“The programs utilise contemporary cartoon narratives that impart information to students in an engaging and relevant way”.
Photo: Professor Nicola Newton (left), Dr Lauren Gardner (centre) and Associate Professor Emily Stockings (right) discussing preparations for the OurFutures Vaping Module. Supplied
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LinkThe success of the OurFutures Vaping program has led to funding from the Australian Department of Health, Disability and Ageing for a rollout to all schools across Australia.
A recent event from the OurFutures Institute shared that more than 160,000 students and one in five schools have already signed up, with one million students to be reached with the program by 2030.
Thank you to the OurFutures Vaping team for their work and support towards this program development, evaluation and distribution. The team includes:
- Dr Lauren Gardner
- Professor Nicola Newton
- Associate Professor Emily Stockings
- Dr Katrina Champion
- Professor Becky Freeman
- Professor Steve Allsop (Curtin University)
- Dr Janni Leung (University of Queensland)
- Associate Professor Matthew Sunderland
- Professor Cathy Mihalopoulos (Monash University)
- Professor Hayden McRobbie (University of New South Wales)
- Associate Professor Lexine Stapinski
- Dr Nyanda McBride (Curtin University)
- Professor Nicole Lee (Curtin University)
- Dr Louise Thornton
- Dr Louise Birrell
- Professor Maree Teesson
- Professor Leanne Hides (University of Queensland)
- Dr Amy-Leigh Rowe
- Professor Cath Chapman
- Professor Tim Slade
- Associate Professor Coral Gartner (University of Queensland)
- Professor Frances Kay (University of Newcastle)
- Dr Yong Yi Lee (Monash University)
- Dr Siobhan O’Dean
- Dr Lyra Egan
- Annabelle Hawkins
- Rhiannon Ellem (University of Queensland)
- Amra Catakovic (University of Queensland)
- Elise Caradome (University of Queensland)
- Chloe Alcorn (University of Queensland)
- Isha Chawla (University of Queensland)
- Kathleen Blackburn (Curtin University)
- Jazlyn East (Curtin University)
- Lena Niklasson (Curtin University)
- Dr Sarah Cavallin
- Natalie Gorgioski
- Dr Shweta Kulkarni
Interested in learning more or signing up your school for the OurFutures Vaping program? Learn more at the OurFutures Institute.