Restaurants, cafés and licensed venues
All Victorian restaurants, cafés and licensed venues are smoke-free. These laws are strictly enforced by the City of Melbourne.
Enclosed premises and outdoor dining or drinking areas
All enclosed licensed premises and some outdoor dining or drinking areas are to be smoke-free. This law has been in effect since July 2007.
Download a copy of the fact sheets for full details:
Tobacco Laws 1 July 2007 – Summary of Changes (PDF, 50kb)
Tobacco Laws 1 July 2007 – Summary of Changes (Word, 40kb)
New Tobacco Laws - Your Questions Answered (PDF, 50kb)
New Tobacco Laws - Your Questions Answered (Word, 49kb)
Workplaces
Smoking is prohibited in all enclosed workplaces for all employed and volunteer staff. For more information, download the fact sheet:
Smokefree Workplaces (PDF, 395kb)
Smokefree Workplaces (Word, 35kb)
Underage music/dance events
Smoking and the display and sale of tobacco products is prohibited at underage 'music/dance' events. All people who are at the event are prohibited from smoking, including adults and young people.
This law does not affect parties held at private residences.
If a person under 18 smokes they will not be guilty of an offence but the person in charge of the event will be required to request that the young person stops smoking.
If a person aged 18 years or over smokes they may receive a fine or be prosecuted.
The person in charge of the event may receive a fine or be prosecuted if they themselves smoke, do not display 'no smoking' signage, or display and / or sell tobacco products.
Reporting an incident
If a customer encounters anyone smoking in a smoke-free area, they should inform the manager of the premises or report the incident to the City of Melbourne on (03) 9658 9658. After receiving a complaint, an Environmental Health Officer will visit the premises to educate the proprietor about their obligations under Victorian tobacco laws. Further complaints could result in fines or prosecution.
More information
For more information on smoke-free areas visit the Department of Human Services – Tobacco reforms.