About ASH Australia: who we are and what we do

ASH Australia is a national health group dedicated to reducing diseases, disability and premature deaths caused by tobacco products. A non-government and not-for-profit organisation, ASH was established in 1994 by the Cancer Council (NSW) and the Heart Foundation. It is now funded by the Cancer Council Australia and Heart Foundation to protect and improve the health of the community through education, policy advice and information programs for a range of user groups including:

• Health professionals

• Elected representatives

• Employers/Employees

• Indigenous groups

• Smokers

• Educators

• Students

• Parents

 

ASH staff

Anne Jones OAM (above) is Chief Executive of ASH Australia.

Stafford Sanders (below) is Communications Officer, and also Co-ordinator of the SmokeFree Australia coalition and the Protecting Children from Tobacco coalition. 

 

ASH Board

Board members include representatives of:

Dr Matthew Peters (below), Sydney thoracic physician, is Chair of ASH.

"Smoking kills more Australians than breast and skin cancer, road deaths, suicide, diabetes, AIDS and murder combined"

To achieve a smoke-free Australia with an end to the misleading and deceptive conduct of the tobacco industry.

To reduce the harmful effects of tobacco use by promoting the economic and social benefits of fully funded, comprehensive tobacco control strategies.

To prevent and reduce tobacco harm by increasing support for:

To achieve a comprehensive and effective strategy for tobacco control in Australia, the level of government funding for education and information campaigns needs to be increased to levels comparable with other OECD countries.

To reduce tobacco use through a range of effective measures such as real and regular increases in tobacco excise duties, prices and anti tax evasion measures to protect government revenue.

To improve government regulation of all aspects of tobacco products, including disclosure and regulation of contents.

To end all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion, sponsorship and any other form of marketing activity that promotes smoking.

To support uniform legislation and retailer licensing schemes to ensure compliance monitoring, enforcement and penalties for retailers who sell tobacco products to children.

To reduce community exposure to harmful substances in tobacco smoke by ensuring legislation for smokefree public places is supported in all jurisdictions and in all places where there is public access.

To increase media coverage of tobacco and health issues to achieve a high level of community awareness of harm associated with tobacco use and to generate publicity about reasons for quitting.

To support national and international strategies that will bring about an end to the misleading and deceptive conduct of the tobacco industry.

To reduce tobacco harm by providing expert advice to health professionals, government, educators, students, indigenous groups, smokers, employers and employees.

Improve support for tobacco control through broadening and strengthening the coalition for tobacco control.

Taking action: ASH campaigns 

 Page last updated 9/6/11