Find out about the benefits of the new smokefree legislation from 1 July 2007.
Smokefree workplaces and public places will make the biggest improvement to public health for a generation.
Going smokefree will positively change the way we live, work and socialise.
Smokefree legislation will save thousands of lives over the next decade by reducing secondhand smoke in enclosed public places and workplaces, and provide a more supportive environment for those that want to quit.
Secondhand Smoke
Cigarette smoke is a toxic cocktail of 69 cancer-causing chemicals and hundreds of other poisons.
There is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke - sometimes known as passive smoking.
If you breathe in other people’s smoke you have more chance of getting both lung cancer and heart disease. Just thirty minutes exposure is enough to reduce coronary blood flow.
Smokefree Benefits
Secondhand smoke is a killer
Everyone has a right to a smokefree workplace
Smokefree laws help people quit
Smokefree laws are good for business
Ventilation does not work
Being in an enclosed place where people are smoking can be harmful, even if it is not smoky, as 85% of secondhand smoke is invisible and odourless.
Secondhand smoke can also linger in an enclosed place long after someone has been smoking. Scientists have also found that ventilation systems are not able to eliminate the risks of secondhand smoke.
Separate smoking areas do not work either, because smoke drifts.
