Australian
federal
and state legislation on tobacco
Full chart summarising Commonwealth, state and territory laws on
tobacco, as at March 2008. From the Commonwealth Department of
Health and Aging.
See our homepage
for specific areas of legislation
- e.g. smokefree workplaces (below), and under TAKING ACTION: protecting
children, smokefree places, smoking and fires.
Legislation on SMOKEFREE WORKPLACES:
See SmokeFree
Australia webpage with chart of current state/territory laws and
relevant links.
Legislation on PROTECTING CHILDREN
FROM TOBACCO:
See latest
steps taken by governments to:
- put tobacco out of sight in shops;
- prevent children buying or selling
it;
- license its dealers;
- ban or restrict tobacco sales at
youth events or from vending
machines;
- make crowded public places
frequented by children smokefree; and
- make cars
carrying children smokefree.
Compliance enforcement guidelines
Trying to draft good anti-tobacco laws, ensure maximum compliance with
them, or improve weak legislation so it's more enforceable? See this
guide to the basics by Healthbridge called Enforcement
of tobacco control law
NEWS:
US
tobacco control bill passes
12/6/09: The US House of
Representatives has given overwhelming final approval to a bill granting
the Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over tobacco.
This long-awaited bill now goes to President Obama to sign it into law.
See US
Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids statement
Tobacco's
heartland moves towards smokefree bars, restaurants
20/2/09: The US state that launched the tobacco industry has taken a
big step towards making its bars and restaurants smokefree - at least
indoors. Both houses of the Virginia legislature have passed a bill
restricting smoking in restaurants to ones with rooms that are
ventilated separately and to private clubs. Virginia's Governor says he
intends to sign the bill quickly. 23 other states and Puerto Rico have
passed bans on smoking indoors at bars and restaurants. See
Richmond,
Virginia Times-Despatch report 20/2/09
Canada
and 20+ US states
mandate reduced fire risk cigarettes
Feb. 2009: Reduced fire risk cigarette
standards are law in Canada and at least than 22 US states - with laws
pending in a further 15 states. See the situation of legislation in North America at
www.firesafecigarettes.org
In New York state, this has led to fewer deaths from fires.
See
ABC (US) news
story 20/9/05 See
our webpage on fighting
fires caused by cigarettes
Victoria
beefs up evidence laws after McCabe case
9/11/05: The Victorian Government is introducing new laws outlawing
intentional destruction of documents to prevent them being used as
evidence in
court. The move follows the Rolah McCabe case, where a terminal lung
cancer victim unsuccessfully sued tobacco giant BAT. ABC
News online 9/11/05
Internet
sales to minors show Tobacco Act needs tightening
1/5/05: A website operation selling cheap cigarettes shows the urgent
need to tighten Australia’s Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act.
Melbourne-based Ancient Egypt Australia, operating legally under a
loophole in the TAP Act, has been selling cigarettes for just $4.40 a
packet – without requesting proof of age, say media reports.
See for example Sunday
Telegraph, Sydney, 1/5/05
Health
groups have called for the website to be shut down. They also want the
TAP Act reviewed, which the Federal Government had promised to do but
recently backed away from.
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