POLICY To promote the health and wellbeing of students and staff, smoking is not permitted in or on any Department of Education premises including school grounds. This is also a requirement of the (the Act) and the (the Regulations). For the purposes of this policy smoking includes electronic cigarettes. School premises An exemption option exists for schools through section 11(1) of the Act and section 10 of the Regulations. These provisions enable schools to have a designated smoking area, referred to as the exempt area, within the school grounds provided the conditions of the Act and Regulations are met. Schools must hold a formal secret ballot of all staff at the commencement of each school year to determine if the majority of staff favour or do not favour having an exempt area within the school grounds. Where the majority of school staff vote in favour of an exempt area, strict conditions must be applied to its location including: it must be a defined outdoor area it must be outside of school buildings and must not be a common access area it must not be visible or normally accessible to students it must be located at least two metres from doorways and three metres from air conditioning inlets. The principal must be satisfied that the school has the ability to meet the exempt area criteria before approving its creation. Smoking outside of exempted areas is against the law and may result in penalties for the smoker and the department/school. In Term one each year, every school must report to School Operations the outcome of the ballot and whether the principal has declared that the school will have an exempt area. Schools that are declared smoke-free with no exemptions may display signs to this effect although this is not a requirement under section 7 of the Regulations. Examples of are available on the Department of Health website.
POLICY To promote the health and wellbeing of students and staff, smoking is not permitted in or on any Department of Education premises including school grounds. This is also a requirement of the (the Act) and the (the Regulations). For the purposes of this policy smoking includes electronic cigarettes. School premises An exemption option exists for schools through section 11(1) of the Act and section 10 of the Regulations. These provisions enable schools to have a designated smoking area, referred to as the exempt area, within the school grounds provided the conditions of the Act and Regulations are met. Schools must hold a formal secret ballot of all staff at the commencement of each school year to determine if the majority of staff favour or do not favour having an exempt area within the school grounds. Where the majority of school staff vote in favour of an exempt area, strict conditions must be applied to its location including: it must be a defined outdoor area it must be outside of school buildings and must not be a common access area it must not be visible or normally accessible to students it must be located at least two metres from doorways and three metres from air conditioning inlets. The principal must be satisfied that the school has the ability to meet the exempt area criteria before approving its creation. Smoking outside of exempted areas is against the law and may result in penalties for the smoker and the department/school. In Term one each year, every school must report to School Operations the outcome of the ballot and whether the principal has declared that the school will have an exempt area. Schools that are declared smoke-free with no exemptions may display signs to this effect although this is not a requirement under section 7 of the Regulations. Examples of are available on the Department of Health website.
Smoke-Free-Premises-POLICY-2016_2.docx