UNSW goes smoke free

UNSW Australia will be smoke-free across all campuses to better support the health and wellbeing of staff, students and visitors.

UNSW took its first step towards its smoke-free policy in July 2012, introducing designated smoking areas on campus. From this Saturday, 31 May – World No Tobacco Day – designated smoking areas will be removed and smoking will be no longer permitted anywhere on UNSW campuses.

UNSW Vice-President, University Services, Mr Neil Morris, said the harmful effects of smoking are well-known.

“UNSW is committed to protecting its staff, students, contractors and visitors from all hazards including second-hand smoke,” Mr Morris said.

“Being a smoke-free campus aligns with our world-leading health education and research, which is supported by best practice policy to encourage healthy behaviour.”

Professor Nicholas Zwar, of the UNSW School of Public Health and Community Medicine, said: “Australia is a world leader in tobacco control but the effort needs to continue. Creating a smoke-free campus at UNSW is a key step in promoting a healthy environment for students and staff.

“There is clear evidence that a restriction on smoking in public places is part of the process of ‘denormalising’ smoking and contributes to reduced smoking rates in the population,” Professor Zwar said.

The Smoke-Free Environment Policy applies to all university grounds including vehicles, boats and residential accommodation and covers all forms of tobacco smoking, including cigarettes, cigars, vaporizers, e-cigarettes and water pipe tobacco smoking.

The smoking ban will be promoted alongside quit-for-life programs as part of a Univerity-wide health and wellbeing campaign.

For more information, check the UNSW Sustainability website.

Media contact: Denise Knight, UNSW Media Office, 0405 207 685 d.knight@unsw.edu.au