Following extensive community engagement, the Queen Victoria Market smoke-free and vape-free area proposal was endorsed at the Future Melbourne Committee meeting on 3 September 2024. The market will become the 14th smoke free area in the city.

A total of 1,267 community members, visitors and traders had their say on the proposal. The community engagement report (PDF 13.3MB) with a full summary of what was heard is now available to download. An accessible version (MS Word 8.04MB) of the report is also available.

Some of what was heard:

• Overall, 76 per cent of those surveyed were in support of the Queen Victoria Market becoming a smoke-free and vape-free area.
• Of the individuals surveyed, 78 per cent were in support, 16 per cent were neutral and 7 per cent opposed.
• 41 per cent of individuals said that if the market became smoke-free and vape-free they would be more likely or much more likely to visit.
• Businesses responded with 65 per cent in support, 19 per cent neutral and 16 per cent opposed.
• 98 per cent of businesses who responded to the survey were traders at Queen Victoria Market.

New smoke-free area signage will be installed at the market in September.