We will protect our community from second-hand smoke and aerosol, and discourage and de-normalise smoking by creating more smoke-free areas and events.

Our ambition is to:

Increase the number of smoke-free areas in the central city where there is high pedestrian activity.

Actions could include:

• The inclusion of smoke-free areas at:
  • City of Melbourne premier and permitted events
  • entry points to major transport hubs
  • high density retail or tourist areas
  • public thoroughfares and pedestrianised spaces.
• Include smoking restrictions in major developments and upgrades.
• Develop a framework to assist entities to ban smoking on private land.

We will educate and raise awareness of the harms of smoking, promote behaviour change and the benefits of quitting.

Our ambitions are to:

• Support and promote existing behaviour change messaging to support people to quit or reduce smoking.
• Support groups with higher smoking rates such as Aboriginal communities, young people, international students, those working in the construction industry and people experiencing homelessness.
• Develop and maintain partnerships with key health promotion organisations to ensure coordinated and evidence-based messaging.

Actions could include:

• Work with Victorian State Government bodies to ensure signage from Tobacco Act 1987 legislation is adequate at transport stops, playgrounds, education centres etc.
• Implement clear, adequate and effective signage in new smoke-free areas.
• Develop targeted campaigns to support population groups with higher smoking rates, e.g. partner with universities to address smoking rates in young people.
• Partner with key health promotion organisations such as Quit Victoria, Heart Foundation, VicHealth and Tobacco Free Portfolios to deliver behaviour change campaigns.

We will communicate, promote and increase awareness of our policy with a focus on people who smoke, those from diverse backgrounds or with additional needs.

Our ambitions are to:

• Run a communications campaign to promote our smoke-free policy in the community.
• Build awareness of current smoking and tobacco laws and regulations.

Actions could include:

• Develop targeted communications campaigns in partnership with health organisations for population groups with higher smoking rates or those more adversely affected by smoke-free areas, such as Aboriginal communities and those experiencing homelessness.
• Ensure signage and communications are translated into different languages to ensure policies and laws are understood by culturally and linguistically diverse communities, such as international students.

Regulate smoking activities including the advertising and sale of tobacco and e-cigarette products.

Our ambitions are to:

• Reduce access to tobacco or vaping products.
• Enforce smoke-free areas under the Melbourne City Council’s Activities Local Law 2019 (Local Law).
• Enforce smoking regulations under the Victorian Government Tobacco Act 1987.
• Support Australian Federal Government smoking controls.

• Deliver a ‘sales to minor’ program to monitor underage sales of tobacco and e-cigarette products.
• Identify all tobacco and e-cigarette retailers in the municipality to enable better enforcement to prevent the sale of tobacco to minors.
• Develop an agreed process with key stakeholders for communicating and enforcing smoke-free areas for vulnerable population groups, e.g. people experiencing homelessness.
• Advocate to the Victorian State Government for further tobacco control policy change, e.g. tobacco retail licensing.
• Include a ban on tobacco and e-cigarette product sales in City of Melbourne owned or managed sites.