Government may consider raising the legal smoking age in a bid to tackle the state’s high smoking rates

The State Government could consider raising the legal smoking age as part of its efforts to reduce the state’s high rates of cigarette use.

Premier Will Hodgman says his Government may again consider raising the legal age for smoking. Picture: RICHARD JUPE.

PREMIER Will Hodgman has not ruled out raising Tasmania’s smoking age to 21 after new research revealed some Hobart suburbs’ smoking rates were among the nation’s worst.

The research from Victoria University health policy think tank the Mitchell Institute showed Bridgewater and Gagebrook had Australia’s worst smoking rate at 40 per cent, which was equivalent to the national rate during the 1970s.

SUBURBS’ SHOCKING SMOKING STATISTICS

Asked if the Government would consider raising the smoking age, which it has previously floated then rejected, Mr Hodgman said: “We’re very interested in anything we can do and we’ll consider the outcomes, the progress we’re making on all our commitments.

“We’ve got a major set of initiatives designed to reduce smoking, and of course we need to do more.”

HIGHER SMOKING AGE REJECTED

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Mr Hodgman said the Government could work more closely with community groups to combat high rates of smoking in some areas.

The call was echoed by Tasmanian Council of Social Service chief executive Kym Goodes.

“Coming together and tackling entrenched problems that communities face is important but it will take time, a budget and an acknowledgment that what we’ve been doing isn’t working,” Ms Goodes said.

“This [research] is a very strong example of why we need to look at the amount of investment currently in preventive health and the inequities of health outcomes for some Tasmanians who can’t afford to access private models of care.”

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The Government committed $1.1 million a year in its 2019-20 budget to support its Healthy Tasmania five-year strategic plan, which will target issues including smoking.

Cancer Council Tasmania CEO Penny Egan said smoking rates in Tasmania have decreased significantly in the past 20 years, but more work needed to be done.

“Tasmania still has the sad statistic of being the second-worst smoking state/territory in Australia behind the Northern Territory,” she said.

She said Cancer Council Tasmania has connected with 24 organisations and community groups, including the Gagebrook and Bridgewater community centres, to help people quit smoking in those areas.