1. An advocacy tool for Smokefree outdoor dining policy & legislation
Komal Suratwala - Southern DHB
Sophie Carty - Cancer Society NZ, Otago & Southland Division
Kia ora koutou, I’m Sophie Carty the Health Promotion & Advocacy Manager at the Otago & Southland Division of the Cancer Society in New Zealand. I will be talking today about the Fresh Air Project and how it was planned and utilised as an advocacy tool to create policy and legislation change for Smokefree outdoor dining in New Zealand. So instead of me talking I’m going to show a quick video for you to get a feel of the project.
September 2019.

3. A pilot project for hospitality venues volunteering to promote their outdoor seating areas as smokefree from 1 November 2018 – 31 March 2019.
Implemented, monitored and evaluated jointly by the Cancer Society and Public Health South, SDHB.
The Fresh Air project was designed specifically to build up a really positive brand and story behind Smokefree outdoor dining.
The project began in Christchurch and today I will share a quick snapshot of what happened in the deep south of NZ.

4. The Partnership Structure
Project Supporters
Project Partner
Prior to the project beginning substantial effort was made to gain official endorsement of the project from local Council authorities and local Chambers of Commerce.
And this collaborative partnership approach to the project was really key to its success.
Project Partner

5. The project was supported by the Cancer Society and PHS with resources – we gave them modern signage, a website and social media page, as well as support from our staff.
However, the projects main focus was about gaining community, business and political buy-in .
To do this we used local council mayors in videos, used the Chief Executive from the Chamber of Commerce to write supportive opinion pieces, and as you saw in the video earlier we used our local business owners to champion the messages.
More official business interviews and customer feedback forms were used to collect evaluation data. I will quickly flick through some of our results.

6. Top 3 benefits to business:
A decrease in smoke drifting inside (84%)
An increase in the pleasantness of the outside area (79%)
A decrease in smoking-related litter clean-up (63%)
The results from all of our participating businesses was really positive.
All of the 19 pilot businesses chose to remain Smokefree.
And we now have 46 business signed up to the project.
The majority reported no change to revenue or customer numbers or that it was too difficult to determine.

7. 67% more likely to visit again
1,542 customer feedback forms completed…
94% 3%
67% more likely to
visit again
There was also an overwhelmingly positive amount of support from customers for Smokefree outdoor dining.

8. Smokefree NZ 2025: Building Momentum
Local FRESH AIR data, which is practical and visual is being used in conjunction with research evidence and benchmarking for:
Local Government advocacy
Communicating with MPs
National Smokefree Environment Act Submissions
The project was local, however, the national roll out and success of the project is being used to build momentum both for local and national change.
For example, Smokefree outdoor dining policies from other councils is being used alongside our local data to motivate our local authorities to take action.
And nationally, NZ’s Smokefree Environments Act is up for review. The data generated from Fresh Air project’s across the country will be used when communicating with MPs and in parliamentary submissions to advocate for Smokefree outdoor dining to be included in legislation. Wish us luck!