Hi. I can understand how you've come to this conclusion but it is a misunderstanding. Yes it is illegal to sell nicotine within Australia, but not illegal to import it. I order nicotine from U.S and U.K with no problems. All juice vendors in these countries post to Australia except maybe a maybe a tiny number who are misinformed.
kslac, hi - nice to meet another Aussie here. I smoked for 35 years and have been vaping for 9 months and love it. I recommend not buying juice from China. Some of it is apparently ok but it's hit and miss. You can buy the genuine eGo gear from Vapebar.com.au in Perth. (And yes, I agree this is the best gear for beginners.) There are other Aussie sellers as well. Best place to go for info is the Aussie Vapers forum. As for juice, I'm mostly a DIYer so can't really advise on ready to vape juices, but off the top of my head Mt Baker Vapors in the U.S. seems to be a popular vendor. Their prices sure look reasonable. They also have the eGo stuff if you want to get it all in one place. I just checked their site and began to create an account. Australia comes up on their list of countries, as expected, so no probs there. The only advise I can give is order a variety of juices in small amounts first. Many vendors sell sample packs of 5 or so 5ml bottles. Just be prepared to try quite a few different flavours from different vendors. Some you will hate, some you will love. I smoked 8mg cigs and have been on 12 mg juice since I started, but now dropping down to 11mg. Easy as I make my own. Better to stay on same level or go a little higher in nic content to begin with as it really helps with cravings. When you do decide to cut down, I'd say do it slowly, but that's just my personal opinion. Everyone is different.
Good luck with it. You'll get through the learning phase soon enough. It's easy to vape in Oz when you know how
