Smoking

Smoking rates among the 610 prison entrants during the 2010 Census were high, with 83% being current smokers and almost three-quarters (74%) of these being daily smokers. In comparison, 11% had never smoked and 5% were ex-smokers.

Prison entrants, on average, smoked their first full cigarette at 14.4 years. Around 7% of entrants reported being aged less than 10 years when they smoked their first full cigarette.

One in 5 (20%) of those entering prison for the first time reported never having smoked, and 71% were current smokers. In contrast, almost 9 out of 10 (87%) entrants who had previously been in prison were current smokers upon entering prison.

A slightly higher proportion of female (78%) than male (74%) entrants were daily smokers. With regards to the age trends, over three-quarters (77%) of prison entrants aged 18–44 years were current daily smokers, compared with 58% of entrants aged 45 years or older. These results seem to indicate that the declines in smoking rates over the last 20 years experienced in the general community are not being reflected in the prison entrant population. In addition to being less likely to be daily smokers, prison entrants aged 45 years or older were also more than twice as likely as those in the younger age groups to have never smoked (22% compared with 9%).

Key differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous prison entrants:

• Almost 9 in 10 (89%) Indigenous prison entrants reported being a current smoker, compared with just under 8 in 10 (78%) of non-Indigenous entrants.
• Non-Indigenous entrants were more than twice as likely as Indigenous entrants to be either an ex-smoker (7% and 3%, respectively) or to have never smoked (14% and 7%, respectively).

Comparisons with the general population

While it is recognised that relatively high rates of smoking exist in Indigenous communities, rates are still substantially higher among the prison population:

• Just under half (47%) of the general Indigenous population in Australia smoked tobacco on a daily basis in 2010, compared with almost three-quarters (74%) of Indigenous prison entrants. 
• While only 10% of Indigenous prison entrants had never smoked a cigarette, 31% of the general Indigenous population reported having never smoked cigarettes regularly.
• Similarly contrasting patterns were found when comparing non-Indigenous prison entrants to the non-Indigenous general population: the majority of the general non-Indigenous population had never smoked a cigarette, while the majority of non-Indigenous prison entrants were current smokers (Figure 1).
• Indigenous prison entrants aged 18–24 years were the least likely to have never smoked a cigarette (just 4%), yet they were the age group most likely to have never smoked cigarettes among the general population (36%) (Figure 1).  
• Similarly, although smoking was still much more prevalent in the prison population,  Indigenous prison entrants aged 35–44 years were the age group most likely to have never smoked a cigarette (11%), but the age group least likely to have never smoked a cigarette in the Indigenous general population (27%) (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Smoking status, Indigenous prison entrants and the general Indigenous population, by age group, 2010

Note: Excludes New South Wales and Victoria who did not participate in the 2010 Census

Sources: Entrant form, National Prisoner Health Census 2010; AIHW analysis of 2008 NATSISS

Within the non-Indigenous population, there were very large differences between the proportion of prison entrants who report being smokers and the proportion of persons in the general non-Indigenous population who do so (Figure 2). Some interesting findings include:

• Less than one-quarter of the general non-Indigenous population aged 18–44 years were current smokers, compared with 80–84% of prison entrants in the same age group. 
• Younger people in the general non-Indigenous population were much less likely to be smokers, with almost three-quarters (72%) of those aged 18–24 years reporting never having smoked. Among the same age group of prison entrants, only 14% had never smoked cigarettes.
• The proportion of ex-smokers increased from less than one in ten among the youngest age group, to almost one in three 35–44 year olds in the general non-Indigenous population; a pattern less apparent among non-Indigenous prison entrants.  
• Non-Indigenous prison entrants were, on average, younger when they smoked their first cigarette than their general population counterparts. Prison entrants started smoking at an average age of 14.1 years; over one year younger than people in the general population (15.5 years).

Figure 2:  Smoking status, non-Indigenous prison entrants and non-Indigenous general population, 2010

Note: Excludes New South Wales and Victoria who did not participate in the 2010 Census

Sources: Entrant form, National prisoner Health Census 2010 and National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2010