Limiting tobacco sales to supermarkets could cut the number of licensed retailers by a massive 82 per cent, according to new modelling by WA researchers.

Prohibiting sales within a walkable 500 metres of schools could lower retailer numbers by 41 per cent, while stopping petrol stations from selling the products could reduce the number of retailers by more than a quarter.

The new modelling by researchers at Notre Dame Australia and the Cancer Council WA considered where tobacco could be sold, the types of retailers permitted to sell it and their proximity to schools.

The results are one of two new studies on tobacco control published on Wednesday in the latest Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

In the second paper, Cancer Council WA Make Smoking History research fellow Natalia Lizama found 70 per cent of WA residents thought tobacco should be less available or not available at all, while 81 per cent believed it should not be sold within 500m of a school. The results were based on a survey of more than 1100 people.

Researchers said with national smoking rates are at record lows of about 5.6 per cent of the population, reducing the number of cigarette retailers in Australia was the next logical step to reduce tobacco-related harms.

It’s estimated about 40,000 tobacco retailers are spread across the country, and that WA has about 100 licensed retailers per 100,000 head of population. Bottle shops, petrol stations and roadhouses are the most common retailers.

Tobacco use remains the leading contributor to the burden of preventable disease and, in 2024, was the nation’s leading cause of preventable death, the researchers warned.

Australians experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage have higher rates of smoking and are disproportionally affected by tobacco-attributable disease and deaths.

Reducing and regulating the supply of tobacco products is on the global health agenda and Australia is a signatory to a World Health Organisation framework on tobacco control that recently outlined a range of “forward-looking measures” to reduce supply by retail reduction.

WA has had a comprehensive retail licensing scheme since 2009, which requires licences to be renewed annually and has monitoring in place of licensed retailers. The State is also facing an explosion of illegal tobacco sales, which prompted a Government crackdown and regulatory reforms earlier this year.

“The current cacophony of political and public discourse about the concerning availability of illicit tobacco in Australia should not overshadow the imperative to reduce the widespread presence of tobacco products in everyday retail settings frequented by people in Australia,” the researchers argue.

“That a product responsible for 24,000 preventable deaths each year in this country remains so readily available is an anathema to public health; restrictions via existing licensing schemes offer a practical solution. “

Study lead, Professor Lisa Wood, from Notre Dame’s Institute for Health Research, said together the studies provide evidence of both strong community appetite for reducing tobacco availability and practical options for government to consider.

“Our research shows the potential impact of different approaches to reducing the enormous number of retailers licensed to sell tobacco,” she said.

“There are currently 103 licensed tobacco retailers for every 100,000 WA residents. Two in five tobacco retailers are also within 500 metres of a school.

“All States and territories across Australia now have tobacco licensing schemes, providing a new opportunity for governments to think about how many tobacco retailers we need, what the community wants, what types of retailers can be entrusted to securely store and legally sell tobacco, and where they should be located.”

Dr Lizama said research showed about 11 per cent of respondents smoked occasionally or regularly and 26 per cent of this group were trying to quit at the time of their 2024 survey.

Less than two in five thought tobacco should be sold over the counter in supermarkets or petrol stations, and less than one-third though it should be sold in convenience stores, pubs or clubs.

Less than two in five thought the products should be sold over the counter in newsagents, lunch bars or delis.

Almost two-thirds of respondents thought tobacconists should be permitted to continue selling tobacco over the counter, in comparison one fifth of WA adults thought tobacco should not be sold over the counter at all.

Dr Lizama said the responses showed the number and range of tobacco retailers was out of touch with community expectations.

“This study found that, overall, the WA community supports reducing tobacco availability—a finding that is in stark contrast to the current ubiquity of tobacco retailers across WA,” the authors wrote.

Dr Lizama said: “Our research shows that the public overwhelmingly supports practical measures to reduce tobacco availability. This creates a mandate for strong policy to align with community expectations.”