No Smoking and No Vaping Signs: Which Wording Your Workplace Needs

In every Australian state and territory, vaping is now banned wherever smoking is. The sign that covers both is a prohibition sign in the AS 1319 format that names smoking and vaping, placed at each entrance and in each area where the rule applies. What changes from state to state is the distance rule at the door and whether the regulator asks for a sign at all. This guide sets out the wordings we make, what the sign has to look like, and what each state expects.

Do you need a separate no vaping sign?

In law, usually not. Each state treats an e-cigarette as smoking in its smoke-free areas. SA Health says separate e-cigarette signs are not required because a No Smoking sign is adequate. NSW Health says its own No Smoking signage covers both. Victoria's Department of Health says the Tobacco Act 1987 currently requires No smoking signage only, so vaping wording there is voluntary.

In practice, the person holding a vape argues that a vape is not smoke, at reception, in the smoko area and at the outdoor tables. That is why we make four wordings:

• No Smoking. The plain portrait sign with the cigarette symbol inside the red ring. Right for a like-for-like replacement.
• No Smoking Or Vaping. One ring holding a cigarette and an e-cigarette. The simplest way to close the loophole.
• No Smoking, No Vaping, No E-Cigarettes. Landscape, two rings, all three phrases. The wording to choose where the sign has to settle the argument on its own.
• The two Victorian wordings. No Smoking Or Vaping with Penalties May Apply, and the school-entrance version with the 4 metre rule spelt out. Both cite the Tobacco Act 1987, which is Victoria's Act, so they belong on Victorian sites.

Our reading: if the sign is new, choose a wording that names vaping. It costs nothing extra and removes the one loophole people actually use.

What a no smoking or vaping sign has to look like under AS 1319

AS 1319, the Australian Standard for safety signs in the occupational environment, puts no smoking signs in its prohibition class: signs that say an action is not permitted. Prohibition signs are to have a white background with a red annulus and slash symbol. The banned act sits as a black symbol inside the ring, and the wording is black on the white panel. The red is the standard's signal red, designated R13 in AS 2700. Our prohibition signs are manufactured to AS 1319 at our Melbourne facility.

• Red ring and diagonal bar. The prohibition symbol, in the signal red designated R13 in AS 2700.
• White interior inside the ring, so the symbol reads from a distance.
• The banned act as a black symbol inside the ring. On this sign a cigarette and an e-cigarette together, which is what makes one sign cover both.
• Black wording on the white panel, with a black border round the edge.

One situation calls for a different class of sign. Where a cigarette or a vape could ignite something, at a fuel store, a gas cylinder cage or a spray booth, the hazard is life threatening and the DANGER format applies: the word DANGER in white on a red oval inside a black header, above a white panel with the message in black words. A DANGER sign carries words rather than a symbol, so the red ring goes on a separate sign beside it. Our Danger Sign, No Smoking No Ignition Sources, is the one for that job, and our danger signs guide covers the format.

Where the smoking and vaping rules come from, state by state

Two layers of law apply. The Commonwealth vaping reforms of 1 July 2024 changed who may sell a vape: the Therapeutic Goods Administration says non-pharmacy retailers such as tobacconists, vape shops and convenience stores cannot sell any type of vape. Where a vape may be used is set by each state and territory's own law, which is why the buffer at the door is 3 metres in one state and 10 in another.

Each entry was read from that regulator's own page on 3 September 2026 and holds only what the page says. Check the linked page before you order for a site in that state.

Two things follow. The sign duty on the occupier is explicit in some places (NSW and Victorian outdoor dining, the ACT, any WA venue with a smoking zone) and a reminder or a should in others; in an enclosed workplace the duty to manage the risk sits with work health and safety laws, and occupational health and safety laws in Victoria, and a sign is the simplest control. And the 4 metres on our Victorian school-entrance sign is Victoria's rule under Victoria's Act, so on a NSW site, which has its own 4 metre rule under a different Act, choose a plain wording rather than one that cites the Tobacco Act 1987.

Where to put no smoking and no vaping signs

Put the sign where the decision is made, not where the offence happens: on the approach to a door, not the far side of it.

• Entrances. One sign facing the approach to every public entrance, readable before your state's buffer line. A glass door takes a self-adhesive vinyl sign at eye height; a wall beside the door takes a 225 x 300 mm or 300 x 450 mm metal sign.
• Outdoor dining and drinking areas. Visible on entering the area and from within it. Where a venue keeps a designated smoking zone, sign the smoke-free part, not the zone.
• Reception, lobbies and amenities. One sign at the counter or in the corridor, in the same family as the site's other door and amenity signs , so the entry reads as one system.
• Loading docks, yards and smoko areas. Designate one spot and sign the rest. A 450 x 600 mm sign on a wall or fence is the size for a yard read from across a car park.
• Fuel, gas and chemical storage. The DANGER format, at the cage or the store.

Before you order, walk every public entrance, note which doors are glass, measure the viewing distance for each sign, and list every outdoor dining or drinking area. That list is your order. Pair it with the site's mandatory signs so the do-not-do and the must-do signs sit at the same decision points.

* This checklist is provided as a general guide only. Smoke-free and vape-free signage requirements vary by state and territory. Always consult your local workplace health and safety regulations and seek professional advice for your specific circumstances.

Choosing the wording, size and material

Wording. Name vaping unless you are matching an existing sign. Use a state-specific wording only in that state. Where the sign has to do the arguing, the two-ring wording leaves nothing to interpret. All four are in the prohibition signs range, and our prohibition signs guide covers the rest of the class.

Size. We make these in 150 x 225 mm self-adhesive vinyl for a glass door, 225 x 300 mm and 300 x 450 mm for a wall at an entrance or in a dining area, and 450 x 600 mm in the plain No Smoking wording for a yard. The further away it is read from, the larger it needs to be.

Material. Metal or aluminium for anything outdoors or at an external door. Polypropylene suits indoor walls and is not the choice for the weather. Self-adhesive vinyl is for glass. Corflute is for a temporary need such as an event or a site office. The No Smoking Or Vaping sign is a 300 x 450 mm metal sign; the No Smoking No Vaping No E-Cigarettes sign comes in metal at 300 x 450 mm and 225 x 300 mm, and in vinyl at 150 x 225 mm.

Common questions about no smoking and no vaping signs

Does a no smoking sign cover vaping?

Where the regulator addresses it, yes: SA Health says separate e-cigarette signs are not required, NSW Health says its signage covers both, and Victoria says vaping wording is voluntary. A sign that names vaping is still the better choice on a new install, because it stops the argument before it starts.

Do I have to put up a no smoking sign at my workplace?

It depends on the state and the area. The table shows where a regulator states a duty on the owner or occupier. For an enclosed workplace the duty to manage the risk comes from work health and safety laws, and occupational health and safety laws in Victoria, and a sign is one control a business can point to. Check your state's page before deciding you do not need one.

Which sign do I use where smoking could start a fire?

The DANGER format, because the hazard is life threatening. Our Danger Sign, No Smoking No Ignition Sources, carries the DANGER header with the message in black words on a white panel, and belongs at fuel stores, gas cylinder cages, spray booths and chemical stores.

The next step

Read your state's row, walk the site with the checklist, and order a wording that names vaping in the size the viewing distance calls for. For your own wording, or your state's buffer spelt out, we make custom prohibition signs to the same AS 1319 format, one sign or a hundred.

No smoking and no vaping signs, manufactured to AS 1319

Four wordings in metal, polypropylene and self-adhesive vinyl, made at our Melbourne facility and shipped Australia wide.