National Tobacco Scoreboard How Does Your State Rate?

WA (53 points) narrowly beat NSW (52) into second place while the ACT finished a close third with 50 points.

The Victorian and Queensland Governments (47 and 39 points respectively) have won encouragement awards and the Northern Territory has scored worst with just 23 points, earning them the infamous Dirty Ashtray Award for the third time since the scoreboard started in 1995. (The Award consists of an engraved ashtray complete with cigarette butts superglued to the glass).

Best Performance Award		Points
Winner	WA Government	53
Second	NSW Government	52
Third	ACT Government	50
Encouragement Awards	Victorian Government	47
	Queensland Government	39
Dirty Ashtray Award	NT Government	23
Best on Indigenous Smoking	Queensland Government

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Australia, with 18,000 deaths a year and an annual cost to the community of $12.7bn.

The scoreboard rates all state and territory governments for their efforts in a number of important tobacco control areas. The AMA and ACOSH reward governments for good performances and improved efforts and also presents the infamous "Dirty Ashtray" to the government with the worst record.

AMA Federal President and Brisbane GP, Dr David Brand, said he was delighted to see a marked improvement in the Queensland score, earning them an encouragement award.

"Queensland has the appalling distinction of winning the Dirty Ashtray Award for four consecutive years (1996-99). Even though they have come second last this year, there has been a marked improvement. The Queensland Government deserves credit for that. I hope to see them leapfrog into a winning position in the near future.

"WA has done well, winning the top award for only the second time, doing well in the areas of Aboriginal smoking, mandatory school education, tobacco law enforcement and smoking in enclosed public places.

"NSW, which has never won, came a very close second, scoring well on restrictions on workplace smoking, outdoor public places, enforcement of tobacco legislation and general government commitment.

"An encouragement award has also been made to the Victorian Government, which this year finished a creditable fourth with 47 points.

"Overall, it is great to see a lot of additional work at the state level on critical issues such as smoke free dining, point of sale advertising restrictions, tobacco law enforcement and overall government commitment.

"This year we have seen the introduction of a new category - addressing Aboriginal smoking. Queensland was the national leader in this category, scoring seven out of a possible ten.

The Dirty Ashtray

"It is very disappointing that the NT Government has come last for a third time - it should be three strikes and you're stubbed out.

"But the awards are all about encouraging governments to save lives. I hope that we may one day see the NT at the top of the table," Dr Brand said.

World No Tobacco Day (May 31) is an international event designed to promote the benefits of a smoke-free lifestyle across the globe.