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After reaching more than one million young people in Victoria and Tasmania, the Aboriginal-led campaign goes national across six states and territories, with a full week of challenges, community events, and support, not lectures.

FLIP THE VAPE goes BIG: Hit youth-led anti-vaping campaign becomes a national week of action, 15-21 June

Victorian Aboriginal Health Service via Mo Works

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.
  • The campaign's principal ambassador is Courtney Ugle: a proud Noongar woman, a Swan Districts WAFLW player, the founder of the storytelling social enterprise Waangkiny, and a prominent advocate for Indigenous leadership, domestic violence awareness, and community education.
  • Participating ACCHOs: Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VIC), Galambila Aboriginal Corporation (NSW), Nunkuwarrin Yunti (SA), Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service (WA), Flinders Island Aboriginal Association (TAS), and Danila Dilba Health Service (NT).
  • The campaign focuses on vaping prevention and quitting support through strengths-based messaging rather than fear-based approaches.
  • Local activations will be delivered through ACCHOs and community organisations nationwide; see the What’s On listing above for details.
  • Aboriginal Quitline (AQL) provides culturally safe quit support via phone, SMS, WhatsApp, and online.
  • Interviews available on request: principal ambassador Courtney Ugle, campaign youth ambassadors, local ACCHO spokespeople in each state, and Lionel Austin (VAHS).
  • High-resolution images and campaign assets available from the media contact below.

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.

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."

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.”

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. A full state-by-state listing of community events is included in the Notes to Editors below, and media are warmly invited to attend.

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

What’s On: Flip the Vape Week community activations

Media personnel are invited to attend. Photo, filming, and interview opportunities are available at all events. Please contact the media team below to arrange.

Tasmania: FIAAI (QuitMob)

  • WHAT: Community and Education Day. Enjoy a free BBQ, giveaways, and fun activities

  • WHEN: Wednesday 17 June, 11:30am – 1:00pm

  • WHERE: 16 West St, Lady Barron, Flinders Island

  • HOW: Visit flipthevape.com/tas

South Australia: Nunkuwarrin Yunti

  • WHAT: Community and Education Day. Enjoy a free BBQ, raffles, and fun activities

  • WHEN: Friday 19 June, 10:00 am – 3:30pm

  • WHERE: Bearcats Stadium, 50 St Vincent St, Port Adelaide

  • HOW: Visit flipthevape.com/sa

New South Wales: Galambila Aboriginal Corporation (Ready.Quit.Solid.), co-hosted with Biripi Aboriginal Corporation Medica Centre

  • WHAT: Community and Education Day. Enjoy a free BBQ and fun activities

  • WHEN: Thursday 18 June, 11:00 am – 2:00 pm

  • WHERE: Purfleet Basketball Courts

  • HOW: Visit flipthevape.com/nsw

 

Details for local events in Victoria, Western Australia, Northern Territory, can be found on:


About us:

After building major momentum in Victoria and Tasmania in 2025 (where the campaign reached more than one million young people and 70% of the target audience said it made them rethink vaping and smoking), Flip the Vape is now going nationwide, with a dedicated week of action running from 15–21 June 2026.

In a first for Australia, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs), Tackling Indigenous Smoking (TIS) teams, and communities across Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory are uniting behind a single national goal: supporting young people to quit vaping. Led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth, the campaign flips the script on traditional anti-vaping messaging. Through fun activities, including the FLIP IT Challenge, local activations, and culturally safe support pathways – Flip the Vape Week aims to make quitting feel supported, achievable, and positive for young people everywhere.


Contact details:

Daniela Abril
Campaign Manager, Mo Works
Phone: 03 9642 7156
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

This campaign is funded by the National Tackling Indigenous Smoking program.