For the first time, smoking among Indigenous Australians is declining at a faster rate than the general population.
That's according to a new study by the Australian National University, which found that between 2004 and 2019, the percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who smoked cigarettes fell by almost ten per cent.
ANU associate professor Ray Lovett says it's a big shift compared to the ten years before 2004, when there was no change in smoking rates in the Indigenous population.
“We have been able to look at data up to 2014 where we’re able to estimate around 30,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives have been saved just due to that decline in smoking rates. So we looked at deaths that we know are substantially caused or related to smoking such as lung cancer.”
The review found that smoking had decreased the most among pregnant women and younger people. Dr Lovett further explains that the drop is partly a result of more targeted Indigenous-led health campaigns and support services in local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The Australian Government has committed to a goal of reducing national smoking rates to less than 10 per cent within five years.
Dr Lovett also argued that community perception about smoking has shifted and we are witnessing an unprecedented situation whereby Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are leading the charge around these public health issues and the real benefits of these efforts are now showing.
Glen Benton, an Aboriginal Quitline Counsellor and Partnerships Officer at Quit Victoria, explains that colonial-era practices involving tobacco have left a legacy that still impacts Aboriginal people today.
“We were paid in tobacco, alcohol, sugar, wheat, opium and if you look at those substances and those goods they're all products that we've had issues with as a culture. It's been something that we've had bartered to us for work so there's a very confusing and complex history that needs pacing and respect paid to it,” Mr Benton said.
He added that telling stories can help drive positive change within Indigenous communities. Hence, Aboriginal Quitline has launched a new podcast called Quit Stories to encourage conversations about the health risks of smoking and benefits of quitting.
“That podcast is an example that people can listen to hear what they might expect if they contact the Aboriginal Quitline because everybody's got their story, as they say, and for our community that's incredibly important, people to be able to tell their stories.”
The Australian Government has committed to a goal of reducing national smoking rates to less than 10 per cent within five years.