The rate of smoking among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is more than twice that of the total Australian population. This accounts for one sixth of the health gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians.

At present, there is very little research that evaluates tobacco control policy and smoking cessation initiatives for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Talking About the Smokes is modelled on the International Tobacco Control [ITC] Policy Evaluation Project, which operates globally in 23 countries.  This model has been altered to suit the context of smoking cessation and tobacco control for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.

Talking About the Smokes aims to improve our understanding of:

• The pathways to quitting for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers, including the impacts of various moderators and psychosocial mediators;
• The impacts of national, local and regional tobacco control policies and programs on smoking and quitting, and the factors mediating this, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who smoke and for those who do not smoke;
• The impacts of national, local and regional tobacco control policies and programs on smoking and quitting, and the factors mediating this, for staff working at Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services;
• The impacts of national-level policies on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as compared to other Australians, Indigenous peoples in other countries (e.g. Māori in New Zealand), or people in other countries with an ITC Project

The Project will use a two-stage sampling procedure for the smoker and non-smoker surveys.  The sampling frame is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples aged over 18 residing in communities that are served by member organisations of the National Aboriginal Community Health Organisation (NACCHO), or the Torres Strait Authority. The sampling frame for the repeated cross-sectional staff survey is all staff employed at the start of each wave of data collection.

Data will be collected face-to-face by local Research Assistants in each Project site, entered directly onto a portable storage device. There will be the option of self-administration of the staff survey on paper.
Results will be available starting from the completion of wave 1 in late 2013.
This research is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.