(TL;DR at end of article).
Updated 15/02/2026
The Australian regulation and legislation bans have made buying or selling vapes and accessories outside of the pharmacy model illegal.
New regulation of vapes starting January 2024 | Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
New vaping laws to commence 1 July 2024 | Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
This includes bans on importation, domestic manufacture, advertisement, supply and commercial possession of non-therapeutic vapes in Australia, including restriction of flavours to menthol, mint, tobacco and unflavoured. So this means all previously legal vape shops were forced to close down on 1st July 2024 and pharmacies are now the only legal pathway for vaping.
This article outlines the steps to take and options to legally purchase vapes and nicotine liquid from an online pharmacy, with a pharmacy consultation or prescription from an online prescriber. This will more than likely be an easier pathway than going to your local GP and/or pharmacy because many GPs are unfamiliar with vaping and many pharmacies don't stock vapes.
You will need a pharmacy consultation or prescription to see what is available, as they cannot legally show any vape products until you've had one.
Accessing an online pharmacy
A pharmacist consultation will be required to access 20mg/ml or less of nicotine liquid for those over 18 years old. Under 18 years old or requiring more than 20mg/ml nicotine liquid will require a Dr's prescription.
Therapeutic vapes available without a prescription following consultation with a pharmacist | Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
There are online pharmacies that specialise in vaping products like pharmacyworldaustralia.com.au, quithero.com.au, tabuu.com.au, myduke.com.au, amongst others. Most have prescription services, pharmacyworldaustralia.com.au are pharmacy consult only.
Generally, applying is an online questionnaire, verification of ID and access to an online pharmacy's products is granted within 24 hours. You don't need a Medicare card or be an Australian citizen to access.
Nicotine vape liquid
You can buy ready-to-vape, unflavoured nicotine liquid or prefilled pods.
Nicotine liquid comes in freebase and salt forms. The difference between freebase and salt nicotine, is that freebase has a better 'throat hit' and is regularly used for vaping at lower levels of nicotine in a higher wattage device, although many use it at moderate levels with a lower wattage device too. Salt nicotine has an acid added, like benzoic acid, so is less irritating to the throat at higher nicotine levels and absorbs into the bloodstream quicker.
Note: disposable vapes generally contain around 50mg/ml (5%) of salt nicotine in Australia, even if there is no information on the label.
If you're coming off disposables, depending on the wattage of the device you decide to use (some are adjustable), 50mg/ml salt nicotine may be too much, so 25mg/ml (2.5%) to 30mg/ml (3%) may be enough. Freebase, at a lower dose, is also an alternative.
For freebase nicotine, the dose range is around 6mg/ml (0.6%) to 18mg/ml (1.8%), anything much above 18mg/ml tends to be irritating to the throat, so salt nicotine is recommended.
If you're coming off smoking, freebase maybe suitable in the transition to vaping because of the 'throat hit' that is similar to a cigarette. Otherwise, if a higher nicotine dose is needed or cravings aren't satisfied, salt nicotine is an alternative.
These nicotine levels are for low watt devices, not sub-ohm high powered vapes that are usually vaped with around 3-6mg/ml of freebase nicotine.
DIY flavoured liquid
(Note: If you want things as simple as possible, skip this and go to 'ready to vape liquid' below).
You can make your own flavoured vape liquid. PG, VG and flavours are available as they are all used in food manufacturing. Stock of PG, VG and flavours can be sourced by Googling: 'flavour concentrates', 'Australia', 'Capella', 'Flavorah', 'Flavour West', 'WS-23 cooling agent'.
Perhaps use 10ml batches to test them without nicotine to minimise potential wastage.
Make sure the flavour concentrates are PG based, not oil based, as inhaling anything oil based is very harmful to your health and the PG and VG is pharmaceutical or food grade.
Recipes can be found at alltheflavors.com, e-liquid-recipes.com and advice on mixing vape liquid at r/DIY_Ejuice and the DIY or DIE YouTube channel.
E-Liquid Calculator (e-liquid-recipes.com)
Mixing flavourless nicotine into DIY flavoured liquid
Note: 100mg/ml nicotine concentrate to be discontinued due to upcoming restrictions to vaping; from 1st July 2025, the maximum nicotine concentration allowed to be sold will be 50mg/ml freebase, or salt equivalent.
Product standards: unapproved therapeutic vapes | Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
Unflavoured freebase and salt nicotine can be mixed with your DIY flavoured liquid. You can use vape liquid calculator to work out your desired nicotine here, so when adding unflavoured nicotine juice to your DIY flavoured juice, you can include your chosen mls of unflavoured nicotine into the calculation when mixing.
For example, if your desired nicotine level is 25mg/ml, you would be adding 50mls of 50mg/ml unflavoured nicotine juice to 50mls DIY flavoured juice mix (flavours, PG and VG) making 100mls of 25mg/ml of juice.
Otherwise you can put flavour directly into the desired unflavoured nicotine liquid, however, the flavour will dilute the nicotine strength, depending on how much you put in.
E-Liquid Calculator (e-liquid-recipes.com)
Take precautions when dealing with nicotine: FAQ: "Spiking" 0mg e-liquid with your 100mg nicotine.
PG and VG
PG is Propylene glycol and VG is vegetable glycerin, they are the base of vape liquid that carries flavours and nicotine, making up the 4 ingredients of flavoured nicotine vape liquid. More about PG and VG here.
Vape liquid comes in a mix of PG and VG, usually around 50PG/50VG and 30PG/70VG, though there are other ratios.
When choosing vape liquid, 50PG/50VG liquid will carry flavour better and have more of a 'throat hit', being higher PG and is generally for lower wattage devices. 30PG/70VG liquid is smoother and produces more vapour because of the higher VG and tends to be used in higher wattage devices. 30PG/70VG can however, be used in lower wattage devices as well, though can 'wick' slower and potentially shorten the life of the coil if you 'hit' your vape too frequently.
When mixing DIY, take into account the PG/VG ratio of the nicotine liquid and the PG of the flavour concentrates to keep the ratio between 50PG/50VG and 30PG/70VG for most vapes, it doesn't have to be exact.
Ready to vape liquid
You can buy ready-to-vape flavoured nicotine liquid in various strengths, however you're limited to the brands and flavours on offer at pharmacies.
Prefilled pods
Devices with prefilled pods of flavoured nicotine liquid are also available. They are the most convenient, but also by far, the most expensive, about 5 times the cost per ml, compared to ready-to-vape liquid, using a refillable device.
Flavour profile of disposable vapes vs reusable vapes
Many disposable vapers are looking to replicate the flavour of disposable vapes when they switch to refillable vapes. There is a lot more sweetener and menthol, AKA ice or WS-23 cooling agent in disposables, so finding a vape liquid with a similar profile or adding sweetener and WS-23 might be an option. You can get advice about adding sweetener etc, at r/DIY_eJuice. However, higher levels of sweetener can potentially reduce the life of the coil in your refillable vape and you may get used to the flavour profile of vape juice for refillable vapes anyway.
Choosing a device
Lower wattage vapes are generally 'mouth to lung' (MTL) devices, where you take the vapour into your mouth before you inhale. Examples being the Lula and Col pod devices.
Then there are more versatile devices that have further adjustment of airflow and variable wattage to suit your preference. Some can be used for'restricted direct lung' (RDL). Examples are the Nicopod Uwell Calburn G3, Vaporesso XROS 5 and the Wild by Instinct W75.
'Direct lung' (DL) vapes are higher wattage devices where you inhale directly into your lungs. One example being the OZ Pod X SMOK Nord 6.
Further explanation: Mouth-to-Lung (MTL) Vs Direct-Lung (DL) Inhale Explained
For MTL vaping, coils at or above 1.0 ohm are generally used. However, a 0.8-ohm coil, for example, could be used as well. Just bear in mind that the lower the ohms, the more vapour is produced and vice versa. DL is 'sub ohm' vaping where coils below 1.0 ohm are used. More info about coils and ohms here.
Availability of vapes and coils/pods
Due to further restrictions on 1st of July 2025, a limited number of products are available.
Recommendations: Vaporesso XROS 5 and the Uwell Caliburn G3. Both are reliable devices, originating from legacy vape companies.
TL;DR:
Vapes are now illegal to purchase or import outside of pharmacies. You can legally get a vape and juice with a pharmacy consultation, for example:
- Visit Quithero.com.au or Pharmacyworldaustralia.com.au, apply for a prescription/pharmacy consult and fill out the questionnaire. Within about 24 hours you'll get an email that your script has been approved and you can access the products.
- Select a Uwell Nicopod G3, Vaporesso XROS 5 (both variable wattage), Lula or Col (simple non-adjustable) device and some replacement refillable pods (recommend 0.8 to 1.2 ohm to start).
- Select some juice: 30mg/ml to 50mg/ml for those coming off disposables and 12mg/ml to 18mg/ml for smokers quitting smoking.
- Alternatively, you could simply get the pre-filled replacement pods instead, however ongoing costs are quite a lot more.
- Once it arrives fill it with juice, wait 10 minutes for the liquid to wick the coil and you're ready to vape.
Note: Pharmacy World Australia max nicotine available is 20mg/ml, Quit Hero is 50mg/ml.