Community Activity

Did you know that you can access information and advice about stopping smoking for different cultural groups and languages?

Quit has produced resources in different languages.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

Facts and Resources

Cigarette smoking is a significant cause of early death and disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people. Approximately twice as many ATSI people smoke, with 45% of ATSI people reporting smoking daily compared to 19% of non-Indigenous people in 2001.¹

Fewer ATSI people die from tobacco-caused conditions, although the rate of smoking-related hospital admissions is higher amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.²

A number of reports have also shown that ATSI people are less likely to quit.² Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who do quit smoking improve their health greatly and live longer. Quitting also has positive flow-on effects to the families and communities of those who give up.

Quit WA has a range of resources developed for ATSI people wanting to give up or find out more about smoking. These can be ordered a along with a range of other quit materials. Click here.

Partnerships

Quit WA is involved in the 'Say No To Smokes' project, a collaborative state-wide initiative that aims to raise awareness among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of the health effects of smoking and supports the introduction of community programs that will assist in reducing the level of smoking. For more information on the project contact the Project Officer on (08) 9224 1347.

Who to contact for help to quit:

Visit your local GP.

Call the Quitline on 131 848 (or toll free for country callers on 1800 198 024) to order a quit kit or to talk to a counsellor (24 hours a day).

To talk to your local Aboriginal Health Worker, contact the Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service (Perth) on (08) 9421 3888 or your nearest Aboriginal Medical Service.

The Office of Aboriginal Health can also provide information about health services on (08) 9222 4222 or at www.aboriginal.health.wa.gov.au.

Quit Smoking Assistance for Multicultural Communities

Did you know that you can access information and advice about stopping smoking in different languages?

Quitline

A telephone service is available by calling the Quitline on 131 848. The Quitline offers information, advice and counselling support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When calling the Quitline you will be given several options. You will be given the option to order a quit kit, to order stop smoking information in your language or to talk with a trained counsellor. If you wish to speak with a counsellor and require an interpreter, select option 3 and ask for the Quitline when answered by the Interpreter Service.

Stop Smoking Information in Different Languages

The Your guide to quitting smoking booklet contains information and tips for stopping smoking. It is available in Indonesian (PDF), Chinese (PDF), Vietnamese (PDF), Malay (PDF), Italian (PDF), Polish (PDF), Macedonian (PDF) and Greek (PDF).

The Want to Quit (PDF) booklet has stop smoking help in Albanian, Bosnian, Dari, Kurdish, Persian, Somali and Tigrigna.

These booklets, and multilingual posters can be ordered by calling HealthInfo on 1300 135 030.

Information is also available in different languages from the Quit Victoria website in the form of The Can Quit booklet. The Can Quit booklet is available in Arabic, Khmer, Croatian, Greek, Italian, Macedonian, Polish, Serbian, Spanish, Chinese, Turkish and Vietnamese.

Stop Smoking Group Counselling Course'

For additional support when stopping smoking, group counselling is also available. The Cancer Council Western Australia runs a course called Fresh Start, which helps people to quit smoking. To join this course contact the Cancer Helpline on 13 11 20.

For further information please contact Quit WA on (08) 9222 2096.

References

¹ Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Statistics on Drug Use in Australia 2002.
AIHW cat. No. PHE 43. Canberra: AIHW (Drug Statistics Series no. 12), 2003.

² Unwin E, Codde J, Bartu A. The impact of tobacco smoking on the health of Western Australians.
Perth: Drug and Alcohol Office and the Epidemiology Branch, Department of Health, Western Australia, 2003.