Correspondence to : Ms Wakefield. Abstract Objective To assess how easily ciga rettes could be purchased by children from retail stores and vending machines in South Australia. Design Ten children aged between 12 and 14 years visited 98 stores and 29 vending machines with the intention of purchasing cigarettes. Main outcome measures Percentage of successful attempts to purchase ciga rettes. Results Children succeeded in purchas ing cigarettes at nearly half of the stores and all of the vending machines. This occurred despite the fact that approved sales to minors notices were displayed at almost two thirds of the stores and three quarters of the vending machines. Conclusion More effective retail con trols are required to prevent the rela tively easy purchase of cigarettes by children in South Australia.