Concerns about localised high smoking rates

Suburbs on the north coast of Tasmania are some of Australia's worst localities when it comes to the number of smokers as experts also raise concerns about the high rates of smoking in some migrant communities.

A man lights a cigarette Source: AAP

About 40 per cent of residents in Bridgewater and Gagebrook in Tasmania smoke, according to data from health policy thinktank the Mitchell Institute at Victoria University.

Mount Druitt in NSW came at third at 31.2 per cent smokers with the South Australian suburbs of Elizabeth, Salisbury, Elizabeth North hitting 31.1 per cent.

Ben Harris, one of the authors of the study from the Mitchell Institute, said that quit smoking campaigns now need to be tailored to these specific communities.

A review of existing research by the Cancer Council Victoria reveals there is also considerable variation in smoking rates among migrant groups, with those from China, Vietnam, North Africa and the Middle East, more likely to smoke.