NSW Parliament has passed legislation making it a criminal offence for commercial landlords to knowingly permit their premises to be used by tenants for the sale of illicit tobacco and illegal vaping products. The new offence carries a maximum penalty of one year’s imprisonment, a fine of $165,000, or both.
The Public Health (Tobacco) Amendment (Landlord Offences) Bill 2026 targets landlords who are aware of tenants selling illicit products and fail to take steps to report or evict them. The legislation will commence on a date to be proclaimed.
Part of a wider reform package
The landlord offence sits alongside several other recent NSW reforms targeting the illicit tobacco and vaping market. These include a new offence for possession of a commercial quantity of illicit tobacco, with a maximum penalty of more than $1.5 million and seven years’ imprisonment. Similar penalties apply for the sale of illicit tobacco.
NSW Health has been issuing closure orders on premises selling illicit products. Short-term orders run up to 90 days. Long-term orders run up to 12 months. New offences apply for breaching closure orders, including for entering closed premises or selling products from them. Landlords now have lease termination powers where a closure order is in place.
Additional offences cover falsely claiming to be licensed, resisting seizure of products, and attempting to retake seized goods.
Enforcement capacity has scaled
The Minns Government has expanded the Centre for Regulation and Enforcement with 30 additional full-time equivalent NSW Health inspectors, supported by time-limited Commonwealth funding. Inspectors work alongside NSW Police on store closures.
As at 24 April 2026, NSW Health had issued 220 short-term closure orders since 3 November 2025, with 158 still in force. The government has acknowledged that some operators are attempting to continue sales through QR codes and social media after closure orders are in place, and that enforcement strategies are evolving to address this.
What it means on the ground
The landlord offence changes the commercial calculation for the lease itself. A landlord who knew or should have known that a tenant was selling illicit tobacco now carries personal criminal exposure. For legitimate operators competing against unlicensed stores in their catchment, the practical effect is that those tenancies become harder to renew, harder to defend, and harder to replace with another unlicensed operator.
The legislation will commence on proclamation. Any NSW operator with an unlicensed competitor nearby should expect the enforcement landscape around that competitor to keep tightening over the next twelve months.