Key messages
- Smoking and the use of e-cigarettes (vaping) is banned within 10 metres of all outdoor public skate parks in Victoria.
- The ban aims to protect young people from the health impacts and negative influences of people smoking and vaping around them.
By law, smoking and vaping is banned within 10 metres (about two car lengths) of all skate parks in outdoor public places in Victoria.
Skate parks are defined as being an area specifically designed and equipped with structures for rollerblading, rollerskating and skateboarding, or for the use of BMX bikes or non-motorised scooters.
The ban also applies to outdoor drinking areas located within 10 metres of an outdoor skate park.
The following diagram shows an example of where the ban applies.
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The smoking and vaping ban has two principal aims:
- To protect children and young people from the dangers of second-hand smoke and the aerosol from e-cigarettes. Outdoor skate parks attract young people and families with children. This ban creates a smoke-free and vape-free environment where children and young people can enjoy themselves without being exposed to harmful second-hand smoke and the aerosol from e-cigarettes. Second-hand tobacco smoke is particularly dangerous for children and young people because they have smaller airways and less developed immune systems than adults.
- To reduce the role modelling of smoking and vaping behaviours around children and young people, who are more likely to view smoking and vaping as socially acceptable when they regularly see people doing it. Banning smoking and vaping in areas used by children and young people will help to ‘de-normalise’ the behaviour and discourage them from taking up smoking and vaping
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The ban does not apply to a person:
- at a residential premises (in privately owned homes or land)
- in a motor vehicle that is being driven past the skate park
- in an area that is separated from the skate park by a road.
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There is strong community support for banning smoking in public places regularly frequented by children. This means that most people will voluntarily comply with the smoking and vaping ban and expect others to do so.
Inspectors authorised under the Tobacco Act 1987 may also provide information about, and when necessary enforce, the ban and issue a fine. The first goal of the inspectors is to make sure that smokers and e-cigarette users understand the ban.
Inspectors may not be available to respond to every complaint but, where circumstances allow, may attend in response.
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The maximum penalty for someone breaking this law is five penalty units, with an infringement penalty of one penalty unit. The value of penalty units is indexed annually. The current value of a penalty unit is listed on the Department of Treasury and Finance, Indexation of fees and penalty page.
Reviewed 19 February 2024