Page 5418 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
to smoke will be minimised, the training of staff and managing the prohibition on food and drink service to a DOSA. Ideally, the development of these plans should involve staff. Consulting with staff would mean everyone is involved in and aware of the responsibility to manage smoking in outdoor areas.
Licensees are also required to ensure that no persons under the age of 18 years are in a designated outdoor smoking area. The government is greatly concerned to ensure that children are not exposed to smoke, even in an outdoor area. There is no reason for children to be in a designated outdoor smoking area because food or drink service will not be allowed.
I now turn to the other aspect of the bill, the ban on smoking at under-age functions. While functions at our schools are smoke free, other under-age functions may not be. This bill places an obligation on organisers of functions which are predominantly organised for the territory’s children and young people to be completely smoke free. When the bill was presented, I said the government would like to see the restrictions commence on 1 December 2010, the fourth anniversary of the commencement of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places. As the bill is being debated after 1 December 2009, the government will delay commencement of the restrictions to exactly 12 months following passage of the bill. The government considers 12 months should be sufficient time for the hospitality industry to prepare itself.
The ACT already has a lower proportion of people here who are current daily smokers, 15.8 per cent compared to the total Australia rate of 18.3 per cent. When compared to the 16.4 per cent in previous surveys, this shows that tobacco control measures are having an impact on smoking rates in the ACT. That is something we should all be very thankful for.
The ACT government is committed to ensuring that our smoking rate continues to drop and that we lead the nation in reducing the harm that tobacco causes. I thank members for their support for this bill.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
Detail stage
Bill, by leave, taken as a whole.
MR HANSON (Molonglo) (10.50): I move amendment No 1 circulated in my name [see schedule 1 at page 5486].
I indicated when I spoke before that the Canberra Liberals would be moving an amendment that I believe is well within the intent of the legislation, which is about reducing the incidence of smoking on hotel patrons, other club and pub users, and on the staff of those establishments. We must make sure that when this sort of legislation is implemented it is able to be implemented without any negative unintended consequences. I believe that in this case there is a negative unintended consequence for the pubs or establishments that have a small outside area where they would
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video