Aboriginal Tobacco

Smoking rates in the Aboriginal community continue to be high and tobacco smoking continues to be the largest risk factor contributing to deaths. We are working with the Aboriginal community on new and unique approaches to reduce these high smoking rates.
 

Let’s Understand Second Hand

The Let’s Understand Second Hand project aims to reduce the exposure of children to second hand smoke. The project commenced in 2008 and has two phases.
 

Phase 1
The aim of the first phase was to determine if school-based smoking education improved awareness and understanding of the impacts of smoking and exposure to second hand smoke within a local Aboriginal community. Children were engaged through curriculum activities that addressed second hand smoke and an artwork competition. The artwork developed was used to produce a calendar for the local Aboriginal community. Parents were engaged in the project through a series of information snippets published in the school newsletter, resources being distributed with the school newsletter and a morning tea to celebrate the winners of the artwork competition.

Phase 2
The aim of the second phase is to reduce favourable attitudes towards smoking within the Aboriginal community. We aim to achieve this by building the capacity of Aboriginal and mainstream services, in the Illawarra, to address second hand smoke and support quit attempts made by their clients. A major activity within this phase was a Tobacco-Talking Tactics!, workshop for service providers.
 

Stakeholders

• SESIH Aboriginal Health Unit
• Illawarra Aboriginal Medical Service
• Department of Education and Training
• Families NSW/ Aboriginal Child Youth and Family Strategy
• Illawarra community organisations
   

Future directions

• Continue to assist service providers to develop smoke free policies, provide resources and conduct brief interventions with their clients.
• Continue to support smoke free community events by making resources such as banners available.
• Continue our involvement with the Aboriginal Tobacco Metropolitan Strategy.

Contact details
Tara Lawson
Ph: (02) 4221 6728
Email: tara.lawson@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au

 

For more information
Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Tobacco Control
Aboriginal Quit programs
Aboriginal quit smoking brochure
Aboriginal smoking statistics

Above are links to agencies and other organisations that contain useful information. These links do not imply any endorsement, support or commercial gain by South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Area Health Service or NSW Health or the State of New South Wales. See our Disclaimer for more information.