Tobacco plain packaging laws come into effect in Australia

01/23

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Cigarettes sitting on the shelf at a tobacco shop are encased in uniform, plain packaging, with graphic smoking related pictures depicting the health risks linked to smoking, after new packaging laws went into effect.

02/23

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03/23

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Cigarette packets display graphic health warnings with less prominent branding at the bottom.

04/23

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Cigarette packets display graphic health warnings with less prominent branding at the bottom.

05/23

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Cigarette packets display graphic health warnings with less prominent branding at the bottom.

06/23

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Health warnings and a campaign to quit smoking are displayed on the back of all new cigarette packets.

07/23

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Health warnings and a campaign to quit smoking are displayed at the back of new cigarette packets.

08/23

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The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1.

09/23

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The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1.

10/23

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Cigarette packets display graphic health warnings with less prominent branding at the bottom.

11/23

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Cigarette packets display graphic health warnings with less prominent branding at the bottom.

12/23

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The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1.

13/23

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The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1.

14/23

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The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1.

15/23

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The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1.

16/23

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The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1.

17/23

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The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1.

18/23

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The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1.

19/23

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The Australian federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1. This person has a lit cigarette as she reads the package.

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The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1.

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The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1. This person's addiction seems to outweigh the risks advertised.

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The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1.

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The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1.

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The Australian federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1. The new rules dictate all cigarettes must be sold in identical olive-green packets with graphic health warnings intended to deter smoking.

The federal government's plain packaging laws for cigarettes came into effect on December 1.

The new rules dictate all cigarettes must be sold in identical olive-green packets with graphic health warnings.

Brand names are now displayed in smaller and nondescript font at the bottom of the packets.

Cancer Council Australia hopes "reforms to how tobacco products are promoted through packaging are essential to reducing the unacceptable level of death and disability caused by smoking in Australia."

Displaying information about the effects of smoking is also said to help reduce smoking in young people and assisting recent quitters in avoiding relapse.

Smoking is recognised as the largest single preventable cause of death and disease in Australia, killing an average of 15,000 people a year.