Background: Smokefree Canterbury is a collaborative grouping of seventeen stakeholder organisations with an interest in reducing tobacco-related harm and moving towards a smokefree Canterbury. The group began in 1990 to formalize the strong relationships that had developed and to provide a co-ordinated approach to addressing smokefree issues in Canterbury. Particular attention was paid to the development of Smokefree legislation for pubs, restaurants and clubs. When the legislation was successfully enacted in 2004, it was recognised that future efforts needed to be directed to supporting voluntary behaviour changes . In 2005 a collaborative project was initiated that focused on reducing inequalities caused by smoking.

Strategy: The Hornby Smokefree Project, funded by Partnership Health Canterbury PHO and other Smokefree Canterbury partners, aims to implement smokefree strategies in a geographically defined environment. A community worker has been established in a discrete outer suburb of Christchurch, characterised by a relatively high proportion of the population being Maori. This worker is using existing community infrastructure to build capacity among community organisations and social service providers to deliver smokefree messages. These groups are enabled to promote these messages to their clients. Initiatives include dissemination of and development of understanding of the Smokefree / Auahi Kore Homes and Cars messages and promoting smoking cessation via established national, primary care and ‘by Maori, for Maori' programs.

Conclusion: Baseline evaluation has confirmed high smoking prevalence among this population (31% smoked daily). This presentation outlines the development of the project and progress to date.