Push to cut source of petrol sniffing

Community and health workers in the Northern Territory have told a Senate inquiry that low-aromatic Opal fuel should be mandatory, the ABC reports.

Indigenous Health Minister Warren Snowdon says it is alarming that some petrol stations still refuse to stock the fuel that was introduced to Central Australia in 2006 in a bid to curb petrol sniffing.

An estimated 90 per cent of petrol stations across Central Australia currently stock the fuel, a figure Mr Snowdon says is still too low.

"I would have thought that those people who are responsible retailers would see the merits of stocking and selling Opal, and would understand that it won't have any negative impact on their vehicles, on their small motors, on their lawn mowers on their whipper-snippers.”

Petrol sniffing produces a short-term 'high' and is associated with long-term health affects, including seizures and permanent brain damage.

Children as young as six have been spotted sniffing petrol in the Northern Territory, according to local media reports.