Tobacco-free campuses: 
  towards healthier universities and colleges
 
 


AUSTRALIAN NEWS
WORLD NEWS
RESOURCES

ASH is calling on tertiary institutions including universities and TAFE colleges to review their policies to protect the health of students, staff and visitors - and establish a more socially responsible and ethical standard of conduct.

In 2007 (see below), we surveyed all Australian university policies on tobacco, including smokefree areas, research funding, on-campus sales and promotion. We found that while some excellent policies were in place, most needed improvement to reach best practice.

We recommend:

1. Making indoor, crowded outdoor, and all working areas smokefree, with designated outdoor smoking areas only;
2. Ending all forms of tobacco sale and promotion on campus;
3. Ending all forms of direct or indirect financial arrangements with tobacco companies; and
4. Providing support for staff and students to quit smoking.

How to do it:  See  ASH Guide for a Tobacco-free Campus

 

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

UWS virtually smokefree from 2013 and no on-campus tobacco sales
July 2012: The University of Western Sydney will be smokefree in all but designated outdoor areas from 2013 - and has banned all tobacco sales on-campus from July 2012. The move follows a survey of over 6000 students and staff showing 70% support for the policy. UWS policy

WA unis to be smokefree by 2013
January 2012: Curtin, Edith Cowan, and Uni of WA campuses are 100% smokefree from January 1, and Murdoch plans to follow within a year after a two-stage process. They will join the Uni of Notre Dame - which took the step in 2002 - making all WA campuses smokefree by January 2013. Australian 10/1/12   Uni of Adelaide has also totally banned on-campus smoking; James Cook, Macquarie and Sydney Universities also have all-but-designated-outdoor-areas smokefree policies.

Sydney Uni virtually smokefree and ends tobacco sales
2011: The Senate of the University of Sydney on December 5 passed a policy prohibiting smoking except in designated outdoor smoking and performance areas, effective 30 January 2012. On-campus shops have also stopped selling tobacco. See the policy 

Macquarie Uni goes virtually smokefree
2010:  Macquarie University has made its campus smokefree (in all but some designated outdoor smoking areas). Macquarie is the first Australian campus to have a smokefree campus AND a ban on campus tobacco sales. 
Sydney Daily Tele 25/11/10

WA universities win top marks for tobacco-free policies
2009:  University of Notre Dame and Edith Cowan University, both in Western Australia, win ASH's top prizes for (respectively) protecting their campuses from secondhand smoke and from tobacco industry interference. 
See  ASH media release 11/8/09     Survey summary and results table   
Tobacco-free campus project poster  including survey results and comments - presented by ASH at Oceania Tobacco Control Conference, Darwin, October 2009

WORLD NEWS

Tobacco-free policies snowball on US campuses
September 2012: Tobacco-free college and university campus policies are gaining steam across the United States. Altogether 774 college and university campuses now have smoke-free policies, according to Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. Of these, 562 have a 100% tobacco-free policy with no sales on campus.  Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids 16/9/12    and earlier report in  Christian Science Monitor 25/7/12

All Uni of California campuses to be tobacco-free by 2014
January 2012: The President of the University of California has asked all its campuses to be tobacco-free by 2012, including banning on-campus sales.
Daily Californian 11/1/12   Many also ban financial connections with tobacco companies. e.g. Oklahoma State University site

 

RESOURCES

ASH Australia Guide for a Tobacco-free Campus   (low-resolution pdf)   
Why we should make campuses tobacco-free - and how to do it
This Guide has been used as a model for Canadian and international guides - see below.

 

The Guide includes:

  • Tobacco facts;

  • Elements of a tobacco-free policy;

  • Benefits;

  • Step-by-step guide to developing and implementing policy;

  • Australian and overseas examples of effective policies; and

  • Questions and answers.

 

Canadian tobacco-free campus guide
Tobacco-free Campus Guide (2011) published in Ottawa, Canada - modelled on ASH Australia's guide (above). 
See  Canadian Tobacco-free Campus Guide

International tobacco-free campus guide
From the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease - partly modelled on ASH Australia's (above).
See  International guide 

"Unlawful, deceptive and lethal" 
See the tobacco industry's long and continuing history of unethical conduct - including misleading governments and the public, targeting young people, distorting and undermining scientific research.

 

More on  smokefree places  
More  information for tertiary students/staff


 

Page last updated 18/9/12