Media release:                                                                                         December 16, 2009

Queensland is top state for protecting workers
from tobacco poisons

 ACT, WA, NT are rising stars – and NSW the wooden spoon

Queensland is the Australian jurisdiction doing most to best protect employees from toxic, carcinogenic tobacco smoke contamination in their workplaces – with the ACT, Western Australia and Northern Territory the rising challengers.

The SmokeFree Australia coalition of employee and health organisations today congratulated these jurisdictions for their efforts; and called on all jurisdictions to ensure employee rights to clean air in 2010 and eliminate tobacco contamination in all workplaces in line with work safety and international law.

Said Stafford Sanders, co-ordinator of SmokeFree Australia :

“Our scoreboard of states and territories* shows Queensland has been at the top of the table since 2006. In Queensland, virtually all working areas of whatever enclosure are smokefree, including all public places where there’s eating, drinks service, live entertainment or gaming – except for a ‘high roller room’ exemption, which Queensland has signalled its willingness to end in conjunction with other jurisdictions.

“ Queensland continues to be the best-practice model, keeping harmful exposure to a minimum by making all public smoking areas substantially separate and unstaffed as they should be.

“Second on our table is the ACT, which has just passed very responsible legislation so that from the end of 2010 all public eating and drinking areas will be smokefree – and with no gaming exemptions.

“Next come WA, which has legislated this year to make all its unlicensed al fresco dining areas and half of its outdoor licensed areas smokefree by the end of next year; and Tasmania, which has long ended smoking in half of its outdoor drinking/dining areas, but which has not gone further in over three years.

“The Northern Territory has jumped up from the bottom of the table into the middle of the field by at last ending smoking in totally enclosed areas, and giving a commitment that any remaining licensed smoking areas will soon become separate and substantially unserviced like those of Queensland .

“Then we get down to those with weak laws and no recent improvement: South Australia , Victoria and NSW.

“Of these, NSW is worst because it not only allows eating and drinking in outdoor and partly-enclosed smoking areas, but also gaming – making these unsafe working areas even more crowded and staffed.   

“Under Occupational Health and Safety laws, and Australia ’s commitment to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, all employees are entitled to full protection from poisonous, carcinogenic tobacco smoke.

“We call on all jurisdictions to make 2010 the year we made all our workplaces safely smokefree.”

* Smokefree workplaces scoreboard at   www.ashaust.org.au/SF'03/law.htm

Comment: Stafford Sanders, SmokeFree Australia      ph. (02) 9334-1823  m. 0412-070-194

* SmokeFree Australia coalition for clean safe workplaces:
Action on Smoking and Health Australia; Asthma and Allergy Research Institute; Australian Council of Trade Unions;
Australian Council on Smoking and Health; Australian Medical Association; Cancer Council Australia; Heart Foundation;
Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers’ Union;  Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance; 
Musicians’ Union of Australia; Non-Smokers’ Movement of Australia

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