By Andy Young
From 1 July 2016 smoking in outdoor dining areas in South Australia will be banned. This includes outdoor dining areas at venues such as pubs, cafés, restaurants, fast food outlets and temporary eateries at events.
The legislation defines an outdoor dining area as “an unenclosed public area where tables or tables and chairs are provided for the purpose of dining in the area”.
The areas must be smoke-free at all times that food is being offered or provided, regardless of whether anyone is eating in the area. The legislation does enable venues to choose to allow smoking in an outdoor area at times when food is not available. So venues can provide an outdoor dining area for a set period of time and at other times provide the same area for smoking but not dining.
The ban does not include snack food, which the legislation defines as “pre-packaged food of a kind generally intended to be consumed between meals”. So this means foods such as potato crisps, nuts, chocolate bars and pre-packaged biscuits can be consumed in smoking areas, but sandwiches and hot chips are not considered to be snack food.
The outdoor dining areas must have adequate signs displayed to show that smoking is not allowed and the signs “must be displayed in such numbers and in positions of prominence so that the signs are likely to be seen by people within the area”.
Signs can be ordered free via SA Health or venues can create their own signs, although it is recommended that the signs include the ‘no smoking’ logo.
Penalties for non-compliance will apply with the maximum fines being $200 for individuals smoking in an outdoor dining area and $1250 for an occupier of a business when smoking occurs in an outdoor dining area.
More information regarding the new regulations can be found on the SA Health website.