Smoking status result (PI10)
This indicator is the proportion of First Nations regular clients aged 11 and over whose smoking status recorded within the previous 24 months was current smoker, ex-smoker or never smoked.
It is collected for males and females in age groups:
- 11–14
- 15–24
- 25–34
- 35–44
- 45–54
- 55–64
- 65 and over.
There have been changes to the specification of this indicator over time. For more information see Interpreting nKPI data.
An indicator related to smoking during pregnancy is also collected, with data presented under the Maternal and child health domain.
Why not smoking is important
Tobacco smoking is the smoking of tobacco products, including packet cigarettes, roll-your-own cigarettes, cigars or pipes. It is an important cause of preventable ill health and death in Australia and is a leading risk factor for the development of many chronic health conditions and premature death. Health conditions often affected by tobacco smoking include many types of cancer, respiratory disease and heart disease.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey show that the proportion of First Nations adults who smoke has decreased over time (AIHW and NIAA 2024). First Nations adults, however, are more likely to smoke than non-Indigenous adults.
At June 2025, 47% of (or around 101,000) First Nations regular clients aged 11 and over were current smokers, 38% (81,600) had never smoked and 16% (33,500) were ex-smokers (Figure 22).
The data visualisation below (Figure 22) shows, for each collection period from June 2017 to June 2025, the proportion of First Nations regular clients aged 11 and over who had their smoking status recorded within the previous 24 months by smoking status result. Select by either:
- organisation type
- remoteness
- state/territory
- age group/sex
to see data for that breakdown.
Data tables supporting this visualisation are available at Data.
Figure 22: Smoking status result by collection period
Overall, the proportion of First Nations regular clients aged 11 and over who had their smoking status recorded within the previous 24 months who either did not smoke or were an ex-smoker generally showed little or no change between December 2022 and June 2025.
Notes
- In June 2021, specifications changed for this indicator and data from that point on cannot be compared with previous periods for all ages or the total. For more information see Interpreting nKPI data.
- A break is included to separate out the periods most affected by voluntary reporting and the peak of COVID-19 and associated emergency response measures. This break, however, is not a clean break as each indicator in the nKPI collection has an assigned time frame (a reference period) as part of its specification. For this indicator, which has a reference period of 24 months, data in collection periods for December 2022 (covering 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2022), June 2023 (covering 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2023) and December 2023 (covering 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2023) still overlap with the peak of COVID-19 and associated emergency response measures. For more information see Comparisons over time.
- The linear trend lines provide a general impression of the direction of the data. Caution should be taken interpreting trends with less than 5 data points. See also Figure 20 for trends for selected data.
- For more information, including on interpreting changes over time, see Technical notes.
Reference
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and National Indigenous Australians Agency (2024) Measure 2.15 Tobacco use, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework website, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 17 October 2025.