Legislation

National, State, Territory and Local Governments together with Tobacco Control Organisations throughout Australia are continually working on new ways to target smoking. Australia has some of the strongest and most innovative legislation and tobacco control measures in the world. Some of these include:

An incentive is a payment or reward of some type that can be used to encourage people to quit smoking. It could be cash, a voucher, a gift, or a prize as part of a contest. 

Pregnancy is seen as an opportunity to help women to quit smoking. Because of the health effects for their baby, women may be more likely to quit, especially if it is their first baby. Women also have more contact with health professionals during their pregnancy, so there are more opportunities to talk to them about their smoking and quitting, and to support them to quit if they choose.

There is legislation in all states and territories that requires workplaces to be smoke-free, and in all states smokers are not allowed to smoke in cars with children (the age limit varies from 16 to 18 years old). In some hospitals and other health services, smoking is banned on the entire grounds.

Studies have shown that making workplaces, homes and cars smoke-free:

The Quitline is a telephone service that provides access to resources, advice, support and counseling to smokers who want to quit. The service is available throughout Australia for the cost of a local call on 13 7848 (13 QUIT). Quitline counselors can help smokers to make a plan to quit, and provide information about services and resources to support quitting attempts. The counselors can arrange to call back during the quitting process to provide support and encouragement. Smokers can call the Quitline themselves or can be referred to the Quitline by a health professional.

Australia has some of the most progressive national social marketing campaigns in the world and this has contributed towards a marked decrease in Australia’s smoking rates (34% in 1980 down to 16.6% in 2007) (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2007).. In Indigenous populations however this has not translated to similar declines in smoking rates, despite studies showing a high recall of mainstream ad campaigns. Little is known why this is although it is believed that campaigns that are more culturally relevant will have greater impact.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

NRT products include:

• Nicotine patches (varying dose)
• Nicotine gum
• Nicotine inhaler
• Nicotine sublingual tablet
• Nicotine lozenge

All types of NRT are safer than cigarettes because unlike cigarettes they do not contain cancer-causing substances and dangerous chemicals. They are also less addictive than cigarettes.

Does Brief intervention work?

We don’t know for certain that smoking brief interventions are effective for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders since there have been only a few studies. In mainstream settings they have been found to increase the quit rates by 1-3% and are cheap to deliver compared to other interventions (Lancaster 2008).

This section of our website is aimed at health workers who would like to help members of their community to quit smoking. It provides information and recommendations to assist the development of a plan of action, including links to online resources available both on and outside this website.

Currently CEITC provides training opportunities in 2 workshops. They are:

Talkin' Up Good Air one day training Workshop

This workshop is aimed at health workers who wish to undertake tobacco control activities in their community and is based on the Talkin' Up Good Air: Australian Indigenous Tobacco Control Resource Kit. It provides basic instruction on: