"These displays were targeted at making it attractive to think about smoking. There's no doubt that youth, in seeing displays, were more likely to think about smoking, were more likely to undertake impulse buying and we've seen those things decrease in this research," Professor Currow said.

The study of more than 6000 young people, who were interviewed before, during and after the introduction of the laws in 2010 and 2011, found brand awareness had also dropped, with 59 per cent able to name at least one cigarette brand two years after the ban, compared with 65 per cent before. Research has long shown an association between brands and young people taking up smoking.

The report, which took other anti-smoking measures and health campaigns into account, comes after a large study by the National Drugs Strategy Household Survey found a dramatic decline in smoking rates that coincided with the introduction of plain packaging laws.

"What we are seeing more than anything is the de-normalisation of smoking as something that happens in the community. Youth are no longer looking on this as a rite of passage or normal behaviour," Professor Currow said.

"I think people are far more aware today of the long-term consequences of smoking than they have been before. Our youth are smart people, they're well informed.