A charity spearheading efforts to legalise nicotine vaping in Australia has accepted funding from an overseas group with clear links to tobacco multinationals.

Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association (ATHRA), the doctor-led charity that has driven much of the debate in the past year, says it does not accept donations from tobacco companies or their subsidiaries.

Some experts say e-cigarettes are a 'gateway' to traditional cigarettes. Credit:Joe Armao

However, it accepted a "one-off, unconditional" donation of $8000 from UK harm reduction organisation Knowledge-Action-Change (KAC), which supports vaping and has accepted money that originated from tobacco companies.

“This is very disappointing," Mike Daube, Emeritus Professor from Curtin University and anti-tobacco campaigner, said.