KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — The North Sydney council became the first in Australia to impose a ban on smoking in all public places within its central business district. The ban will come into force towards the end of the year after an awareness campaign.
Using the same authority which allows for a local council to create no-parking zones, the council voted unanimously to impose the ban throughout the district which includes footpaths, parks and benches.
Any public space would now be considered to fall under this new ruling.
Speaking to the Guardian, mayor Jilly Gibson said that this action was overdue and was intended to denormalise smoking. She also mentioned that she was already being contacted by other councils elsewhere in Australia looking to implement a similar action.
Before the vote, more than 80 percent of feedback from the public submitted to the council indicated that they were in favour of the ban.
The 2016 National Drug Strategy Household Survey report found the smoking rate among adults in Australia was 12.8 percent which is almost half that in 1995.
