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The Australian Medical Association has backed a call by a Canberra GP to protect neighbours of public housing tenants from secondhand smoke. Dr Stephen Moulding's call for action came after many patients at his Narrabundah clinic, private and public residents, complained about the dangerous smoke from adjoining public tenants entering their homes. "My view is not to be saying we've got to be banning smoking in public housing, but there must be some compromise where residents who have got objections can be protected and also children when they're involuntarily exposed," he said. One of his patients told Fairfax Media the doors and windows in her two-storey duplex, including to her 9-year-old son's bedroom, had to stay constantly closed due to a public tenant who smoked in the front yard less than two metres away. "It would be 10-15 cigarettes a day in winter and in summer it's constant," she said. AMA ACT president Dr Steve Robson said public housing tenants were in a demographic more likely to smoke and it made no sense to protect people from secondhand smoke at a restaurant and not at a place where they lived. "The AMA would encourage the government to address these concerns and not fob them off," he said. "I'm not aware of the scale of the problem, but the government should immediately move to establish if any children are at risk in these situations." Dr Moulding raised the issue with Health Minister Simon Corbell in November, who said the government was monitoring the roll-out of smoke-free public housing policies internationally and new strata laws in NSW that include tobacco smoke as a potential nuisance or hazard. But in a response to Dr Moulding this May, the newly responsible minister Meegan Fitzharris made clear the government's priority was on expanding smoke-free public spaces, giving no suggestion of any action on the residential smoke concerns raised. An ACT Housing spokeswoman said no cases involving public tenants and smoking had been referred to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal. A NSW tribunal ordered a Sydney landlord to pay more than $11,000 compensation to a tenant last year after their flat was made unliveable by a chain-smoking neighbour in the flat below. The ACT Housing spokeswoman said all tenants, whether in private or public residences, had a right to the enjoyment of their property and if this was impacted by others they could discuss the issue as neighbours, seek a mediated solution through the Conflict Resolution Service, or go to ACAT. "However, these courses of action cannot guarantee success as the rights of both parties would need to be carefully considered and weighed," she said. ACT law bans smoking in all enclosed public places, outdoor eating and drinking areas and cars when children under the age of 16 years are inside.

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