The ACT Government wants to ban smoking from a range of outdoor areas like playgrounds, public swimming pools, sporting fields and bus interchanges.

The suggestion comes from a report released today by ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher, who is also the Health Minister, to coincide with World No Tobacco Day.

There are currently restrictions on smoking at ACT Health facilities, schools, restaurants and bars, outdoor eating and drinking areas and in cars carrying children.

“The latest list of locations to consider a ban on smoking has targeted places where there is close personal interaction like bus interchanges and in many cases, close interaction with children, like playgrounds and swimming pools,” the Chief Minister says.

“By restricting smoking at places that children frequent such as playgrounds and sporting fields, we can discourage the uptake of smoking.”

The report, “Future Directions for Tobacco reduction in the ACT 2013?16”,  also recommends an investigation into ways that access to tobacco can be restricted further through changes to licensing and fees.

“The government will also allocate $404,000 in the upcoming 2013?14 Budget to continue the implementation of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tobacco Control Strategy with funding over the next years,” Ms Gallagher adds.

She says the report will now be “subject to detailed discussion with key stakeholders and the community” and that timeframes for implementing any new measures would be worked out after the consultations.