| The Brumby Government’s new tobacco laws will help prevent young people from taking up smoking, protect children from exposure to second-hand smoke in motor vehicles, and support more adults to quit smoking.
Introducing the Tobacco Amendment (Protection of Children) Bill 2009 to Parliament today, Health Minister Daniel Andrews said smoking remained the leading avoidable cause of many cancers, respiratory, cardiovascular and other diseases.
“The Brumby Government is taking action to reduce the impact of tobacco-related harm to the Victorian community,” Mr Andrews said.
“In Victoria smoking costs around 4000 lives and $5 billion each and every year. Although adult smoking rates have fallen from 43 per cent in 1987 to 16.5 per cent in 2008, there is still much more we can do to reduce tobacco consumption, fight cancer and reduce the incidence of preventable chronic disease,” he said.
The key reforms include:
• Banning the display of tobacco products in retail outlets (other than specialist tobacconists and on-airport duty free shops);
• Banning smoking in cars carrying a person under 18 years of age;
• Banning the sale of cigarettes from temporary booths at events such as The Big Day Out or the Melbourne Grand Prix;
• Providing the Health Minister with the power to ban youth-orientated tobacco products and packaging, such as fruit-flavoured cigarettes; and
• Stronger penalties and enforcement provisions.
Aside from the point-of-sale tobacco display ban, which will be introduced on 1 January 2011, the remaining reforms will commence on 1 January 2010.
Mr Andrews said that despite bans on tobacco advertising, cigarettes remain more visible and more widely available than any other consumer product in Australia, including milk and bread.
“Point-of-sale displays raise the profile of tobacco and create the impression that cigarettes are far more popular than is actually the case. This increases the likelihood that young people will start smoking, encourages smokers to buy more tobacco products and makes it harder for people who have quit to remain quitters,” Mr Andrews said.
“Banning smoking in cars carrying children under the age of 18 years will reduce children’s exposure to second-hand smoke, encourage people not to smoke around children and further demonstrate to young people that smoking is not desirable.
“There is no risk-free level of second-hand smoke in confined areas such as cars. Research shows that air quality in a car while a person smokes with a window partially or wholly down, is similar to that found in a smoky pub.
“This new offence will be enforced by police officers, who are given appropriate powers in the bill to direct motorists to stop and to issue Infringement notices.
“Public consultation has shown overwhelming support for a ban on smoking in cars carrying children, with a survey conducted by the Cancer Council Victoria suggesting that up to 90 per cent of Victorians support the ban,” Mr Andrews said.
The amendments are part of a package of initiatives outlined in the Brumby Government’s Victorian Tobacco Control Strategy 2008-2013, which was launched last year.
The Strategy sets challenging targets for reducing smoking rates in Victoria by 2013, with the aim to:
• Reduce smoking among adults by 20 per cent;
• Reduce smoking among pregnant women by 50 per cent; and
• Reduce smoking among Aboriginal and other high prevalence groups by at least 20 per cent.
In addition to the legislative amendments, the strategy outlines a range of non-legislative initiatives such as providing targeted cessation programs and support for pregnant women, disadvantaged and Aboriginal Victorians, as well as the continuation of Quit’s social marketing campaign.
|
