Australia's health minister is set to announce a sweeping crackdown on e-cigarettes in the coming weeks in a bid to stem the growth of a "new generation of nicotine addicts", the Daily Mail reported.

The rules will include bans on flavours, plain packaging similar to cigarettes and tighter import restrictions to crack down on illegal smuggling of e-cigarettes into the country.

Health Minister Mark Butler said e-cigarettes were clearly being marketed to children and attacked as "rubbish" the claim that most of them did not contain nicotine.

He said e-cigarettes are clearly aimed at children, with flavors like bubble gum, and the survey found that one in six middle school students said they had tried e-cigarettes.

All the crackdown rules will be set out in the May budget.

Butler said he would take the strongest possible action to prevent vaping from becoming the norm in schools.

"School authorities have gone crazy, not just high schools, but elementary schools," Butler said.

"These stores are falsely claiming that they are selling nicotine-free e-cigarettes, which we know to be complete nonsense."

"Every time someone does a random test of these things, they find overwhelmingly nicotine e-cigarettes, and you have to ask the question, why would anyone want an e-cigarette without nicotine?"

"I mean, that's the whole point of buying cigarettes -- to get that feeling."

Butler said he would welcome recommendations from the Drug Administration (TGA) to help prevent more minors from taking up the habit.

"The FDA recommends drug packaging, so it's not one of those pretty packages with pink unicorns on it," Butler said. And it's going to be simple."

Currently, only those with a prescription can legally buy nicotine e-cigarettes from a pharmacist, but many convenience stores and tobacco shops do not hesitate to sell them directly.

Specialty stores are also common across the country, with rows of colorful e-cigarettes on public display as soon as you enter.

"This is an insidious product deliberately designed by the tobacco industry to create a new generation of nicotine addicts," Mr Butler said.

"This completely explains why under-25s are the only group where smoking rates are going up, which is exactly what the industry wants."

"One in 70 people in their 50s have used e-cigarettes. One in four people in my daughter's age group have vaped."

New research shows that vapers are three times more likely to start smoking cigarettes than the general population.

Other reports cited by Butler indicate that more than 50 children under the age of 4 have been poisoned by inhaling nicotine in the past year.

The budget will reveal just how serious the crackdown will be, Butler said. "We also need to look at our borders."

"We have to do something at the border and Greg Hunt tried to do that and he was overthrown by his own party in 10 days."

"Because they're not coming into Australia as shipping containers labeled e-cigarettes, they're coming into Australia in very small boxes, and that requires states and territories to step in."

Butler said one difficulty in addressing the import issue is creating the right regulatory framework, which would give states and territories the ability to enforce the rules.