Councils across Victoria will receive extra encouragement to
introduce smoke-free outdoor policies this week, with toolkits
being sent to local governments detailing how they can implement
smoke-free zones in areas like parks, playgrounds and outdoor
dining areas. The information packs, devised by the Heart
Foundation (Victoria) and Quit, outline why outdoor smoke-free
areas are important and provide practical advice on how to
develop, implement, and communicate smoke-free policies within
local government areas. Smoking is taking a heavy toll on
Victorians, especially on those from local government areas with
higher smoking rates; such as Greater Shepparton, Hume and Knox,
to name a few. (To see a full listing of individual local
government area smoking rates and the number of deaths caused by
smoking go to Page 70 of this report http://www.health.vic.gov.a
u/healthstatus/downloads/2008_ch02_01.pdf and
http://www.quit.org.au/thebigkill/) Heart Foundation (Victoria)
CEO Kathy Bell said momentum was growing for