For decades, the tobacco industry has profited from exploiting Indigenous peoples in multiple ways, including using racist or stereotypical imagery and cultural appropriation to sell its products. The industry also plays a key role in perpetuating inequity, using aggressive marketing to target populations already experiencing disadvantage and facing health challenges, as well as exploiting people in countries where tobacco is grown.

In Australia, smoking prevalence in the general population has declined over many decades; however, smoking rates remain disproportionately high among certain groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, people living with mental illness, and people struggling with drug and alcohol dependency.