Anti-Tobacco workforce announced on ‘World No Tobacco Day’
Minister for Indigenous Health, Warren Snowdon, announced an anti-tobacco workforce will soon roll out in the first 20 of 57 regions around Australia to tackle Indigenous smoking rates.
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31 May 2010
On World No Tobacco Day today, the Minister for Indigenous Health, Warren Snowdon, announced an anti-tobacco workforce will soon roll out in the first 20 of 57 regions around Australia to tackle Indigenous smoking rates.
Mr Snowdon said each region would receive a regional tobacco coordinator and tobacco action worker, in addition to two new Healthy Lifestyle workers to help improve nutrition and physical activity in indigenous communities.
In total, from July, 82 positions will be rolled out as follows:
- 20 Regional Tobacco Coordinators
- 21 Tobacco Action Workers
- 41 Healthy lifestyle workers
“Overall, around one in six Australians smoke; but the rate is almost one in two among Indigenous Australians. One in five deaths among Indigenous Australians is caused by smoking and that’s unacceptable,” Mr Snowdon said.
He said the new anti-tobacco workforce will be employed from July this year to help reach more Indigenous people to run local smoking prevention and quit campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking, and support individuals to quit.
These positions will complement new Healthy Lifestyle workers, which are part of a $37.5 million initiative to help people get more physically active and improve their eating habits.
He said the Rudd Government is committed to addressing Indigenous health issues and in particular excessive smoking rates.
The new anti-tobacco workforce is part of the $100.6 million Tackling Smoking measure, an investment made by the Rudd Government through the COAG partnership with the states and territories.
Former Indigenous Social Justice Commissioner, Dr Tom Calma, has been engaged
as national coordinator to lead this important work.
“The new anti-tobacco workers will help with preventative measure to deter people from taking up the habit, and will help connect people to the help they need to quit,” Dr Calma said.
“A community-level approach to tackling the high rates of smoking among Indigenous people will help ensure the most appropriate methods are used to educate communities about the dangers that smoking poses to their health,” Dr Calma said.
These workers will be employed by Aboriginal community controlled health organizations, such as Aboriginal Medical Services, where possible.
The Rudd Government also announced today it will provide $5 million to help support Quitline services around Australia. The Government’s modelling is that the excise increase alone will result in approximately 87,000 Australians quitting smoking.
The Australian Government has also invested in the $14.5 million Indigenous Tobacco Control Initiative, which is funding 18 projects operating around Australia, trialing ways to better engage with Indigenous people to help them quit, or not take up smoking in the first instance.
Mr Snowdon said that Australia is leading the world in anti-smoking initiatives, including:
- a 25 per cent rise in tobacco excise to increase the cost of a packet of cigarettes to more than $15 - expected to encourage around 87,000 Australians to quit and deter younger Australians from taking up smoking
- legislation to mandate plain packaging for tobacco products by July 2012
- legislation to restrict Australian internet advertising of tobacco products, bringing the internet into line with other media
- graphic health warnings on packets to be updated and expanded
- anti-smoking advertising to be increased by $27.8 million over four years to more than $85 million over four years.
For more information go to: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/ctg/publishing.nsf/Content/national-action-to-reduce-indigenous-smoking-rate
Media contact: Alice Plate 0400 045 999 or Alice.Plate@health.gov.au Photos from Indigenous Smoking campaign ‘ditch the durries’ are available at www.flickr.com/photos/warrensnowdon/
Priority Regions for Tackling Smoking and Healthy Lifestyle Workforce
| State/Territory | Priority Regions 2010-11 |  |
| NSW | Tamworth/Moree/Narrabri | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Campbelltown | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Inner Sydney | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Newcastle/Lake Macquarie | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Victoria | Southern Metropolitan (Dandenong) | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Loddon Mallee Region (Swan Hill / Mildura) | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| QLD | Central Queensland | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Far North Queensland | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| South East Metropolitan | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Wide Bay/Sunshine Coast | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| SA | Whyalla/Flinders and Far North | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Hills Mallee Southern/Riverland/South East | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Metro South | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| WA | Kimberley West | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Kimberley East | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Goldfields | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Pilbara | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| NT | Darwin Urban | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Katherine West | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| Central Australia | Regional Tobacco Coordinator x 1 Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Workers x 2 |
| ACT | ACT | Tobacco Action Worker x 1 Healthy Lifestyle Worker x 1 |
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