National call to flip the vape

A national campaign across Australia will launch next week encourage young Indigenous people to quit vaping.

Created with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people, not just for them, Flip the Vape Week is designed to make quitting vaping feel visible, supported, and socially backed, instead of isolating or shameful.

Because while most young people already know vaping isn’t good for them, with 22% of people aged 15+ having tried it, the real challenge is social pressure. 

Flip the Vape flips that dynamic entirely by not relying on lectures or scare tactics. Instead, the campaign uses humour, culture, community pride, and peer-led storytelling to create a movement young people actually want to be part of. It reframes the conversation around vaping, from feeling helpless against it to having the power to quit.

Key facts:

• Flip the Vape Week runs nationally from 15–21 June 2026.
• Flip the Vape Week is the first combined effort of its kind, with ACCHOs, Tackling Indigenous Smoking teams, and communities working together across six states towards a national goal of quitting vaping.
• The campaign builds on previous success in Victoria and Tasmania, where it reached over one million young people.
• Flip the Vape is Aboriginal-led, youth-powered, and community-controlled.

At the centre of the campaign is a crew of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ambassadors acting as the face of the movement — boldly sticking one finger up to vaping and encouraging their peers to do the same. Leading the crew is principal ambassador Courtney Ugle, a proud Noongar woman, Swan Districts WAFLW player, and founder of social enterprise Waangkiny, widely recognised across the football community for her advocacy on Indigenous leadership, domestic violence awareness, and community education.

“Our young people are the warriors and the dreamers,” says Ugle. “They flipped the script with pride, with humour, with their mob behind them. Now it’s your turn. If you’ve got a mic, a stage or a community, we need you in this. Flip the vape with us.”

The numbers:

Widely recognised across the football community for her advocacy on Indigenous leadership, domestic violence awareness, and community education, Ugle embodies the campaign’s core message: that young people have the power to change their own story. 

Aboriginal people feature in every piece of campaign creative and are involved in on-the-ground outreach, leading the conversation around quitting vaping in their own communities and across Australia. The message is clearly resonating: young Aboriginal people around the country are getting behind the campaign, and prominent voices are taking note.

After building strong momentum across Victoria and Tasmania since 2025, the campaign is now scaling nationally, delivered on the ground by six ACCHOs and their Tackling Indigenous Smoking (TIS) teams:

• Victoria (statewide): Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS), through its The Koori Way campaign
• New South Wales (Coffs Harbour region): Galambila Aboriginal Corporation, through its Ready.Quit.Solid. campaign
• South Australia (Adelaide): Nunkuwarrin Yunti
• Western Australia (Midwest, Gascoyne and Murchison): Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service (GRAMS), through its Barndi Yarraly campaign
• Tasmania (statewide): Flinders Island Aboriginal Association (FIAAI), through its QuitMob campaign
• Northern Territory (Greater Darwin and Palmerston): Danila Dilba Health Service

At the heart of the week is the Flip the Vape Challenge: a simple shareable challenge encouraging young people to “flip” something on camera as a signal they’re done with vaping. Participants are encouraged to nominate their mates and share their videos using #FlipTheVape.

“The biggest barrier for young people often isn’t knowing vaping is harmful; it’s the fear of standing out or losing belonging,” says Lionel Austin, Manager of the Preventative Health Unit at Victorian Aboriginal Health Service, where the campaign originated in early 2025. “Flip the Vape Week exists to change that by making quitting something visible, collective, and backed by community.”

Get involved

Throughout the week, communities around Australia will host local activations including BBQs, sports events, youth gatherings, art-based activities, and community-led conversations, alongside digital and outdoor campaign activity. 

Importantly, the campaign also connects young people to culturally safe quitting support through Aboriginal Quitline (AQL) as well as local ACCHOs and Tackling Indigenous’ Smoking teams, ensuring participation leads to real pathways for support and behaviour change.

Young people, communities, youth services, schools, and organisations are encouraged to get involved, host local activations, support the challenge online, and help flip the script on vaping together.

For more information, quitting support, or campaign resources, visit flipthevape.com