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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 4 Hansard (3 April) . . Page.. 1400 ..

(3) Are regular checks undertaken to ensure that retailers are abiding by amendments made to the Tobacco Act in 1999 (enforced in 2000) regarding issues like no point-of-sale tobacco advertising;

(4) Have any businesses been warned or fined for point-of-sale advertising or other infringements since the changes to the Act, if so, can any details about those warnings or fines be provided.

Mr Corbell: The answer to the member's question is:

With regard to the first and second questions, the answer is: no, there have been no prosecutions during 2001 or 2002. There have also been no administrative sanctions imposed against licensees for breaches of the Act.

The Tobacco Act 1927 provides for the imposition of administrative sanctions, as well as for prosecutions, for offences against the Act. In practice, administrative sanctions would be the normal course of actions for a first offence by a licensee, with the option of prosecution still available for offences by non-licensees and where appropriate.

With regard to the third question, public health officers undertake routine compliance checks of tobacco outlets in relation to point-of-sale advertising and promotion requirements, including product displays and the display of required health warning notices. Officers also respond to complaints about particular premises. During 2001-2002, public health officers conducted 283 inspections of tobacco outlets; 386 inspections were conducted during the first half of 2002-2003, representing about 75 percent of all licensed outlets. During 2001-2002, 88 percent of premises complied with the legislative requirements.

With regard to the fourth question, a number of businesses received warnings over the periods 2001-2002 and 2002-2003. Translation of hardcopy records to the Health Protection Service's new computer database was to occur in 2002-2003 and 2003 -2004. However, all hard-copy files were destroyed in the HPS Holder fire on 18 January 2003 prior to migration of these records to the new database. As a result, information about the number and nature of warnings issued to businesses is not available.

Seniors-residential care places

(Question No 441)

Mr Cornwell asked the Minister for Health, upon notice:

In relation to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare release of 26 February 2003 on the Executive Summary of the Need for and Provision of Human Resources in the ACT, where under the category Aged Care it is reported that there are fewer aged residential places in Canberra than other capital cities and 15 percent of residents who do occupy ACT places are from outside the ACT:

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