Table 1.

The sample characteristics of current smokers within each state group at each wave (%).

	Wave 1–3a 2002–2004		Wave 4 Oct–Dec 2005		Wave 5 Oct 2006–Feb 2007		Wave 6 Sept 2007–Feb 2008
	Leading states n=632	Lagging states n=1,198	Leading states n=517	Lagging states n=992	Leading states n=587	Lagging states n=1,007	Leading states n=615	Lagging states n=957
Age
18–39	50.7	49.8	45.6	44.3	42.2	41	39.5	39
40+	49.3	50.2	54.4	55.7	57.8	59	60.5	61
Gender
Female	54.1	52.9	55.9	54.9	59.6	54.1b	56.9	55.1
Male	45.9	47.1	44.1	45.1	40.4	45.9	43.1	44.9
Household income
Low	30.4	26.4c	31.1	27.6	30.5	27.9	26.5	27.4
Moderate	36.8	31.6	34.8	32.4	31.5	30.9	32.4	30.4
High	27.3	35.3	29.2	34.3	31.2	34.5	35.3	35.7
Refused	5.4	6.6	4.8	5.7	6.8	6.8	5.9	6.5
Education
Primary/some high	44.5	37.7c	43.7	35.6c	40.9	33.0c	38.2	31.6b
Finish High School	24.8	25.5	24.4	26.1	25.9	26.9	26.8	26.5
Trade qualification	16.2	16.6	15.5	17.7	17.2	19.5	18.0	21.4
University	14.6	20.1	16.4	20.6	16.0	20.6	16.9	20.5
Nicotine dependence
Low	25.3	29.8	27.7	28.0c	24.1	24.8	22.8	25.3
Moderate	40.9	40.3	35.7	42.8	41.7	42.3	43.1	42.6
High	33.7	29.9	36.5	29.3	34.1	32.9	34.1	32.1
Leading states
Queensland	61.4		58.6		61.2		58.2
Western Australia	29.8		26.7		28.8		30.6
Tasmania	8.8		14.7		10.1		11.2
Lagging states
New South Wales		58.2		53.9		57.1		55.9
Victoria		41.8		46.1		42.9		44.1

Notes:

^aThe average number of observations at each wave. Survey dates for Wave 1: October to December 2002; Wave 2: May to August 2003; Wave 3: June to November 2004.

χ²;

^b)= p <0.05

^c)= p <0.01

NB: Results in wave 1 – 3 are shown as significant if significance was reached in at least two of the three waves.