A judge has crushed moves by a tobacco giant to access the confidential survey results of Australian schoolchildren, including information revealing their attitudes to cigarettes and alcohol.

British American Tobacco used freedom-of-information laws to seek access to six Cancer Council Victoria files, arguing it was in the public interest to expose to scrutiny the raw material used to underpin its plain packaging position.

VCAT has refused the release of school children data to British American Tobacco.

The council opposed in all six cases, saying the data was either gathered on a confidential basis for the purpose of public health, or was outdated or incomplete and its release was contrary to the public interest.

The non-profit health group also argued there could be no limit to what the tobacco company could do with the material from the Australian Secondary Students' Alcohol and Drug Survey, which includes information that may have commercial value as a marketing tool to attract young smokers.