A Queensland apartment-dweller concerned for the health of his family has launched a petition calling for people affected by smoking neighbours in unit blocks and apartments to be given more rights.

There are no laws to protect residents living in strata from passive smoke from adjacent units.

Chris Irons is a strata advisor and a former Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management in Queensland and spoke to Scott Emerson about the legalities.

“It highlights the difficulty here, because on the one hand … there are some proven health reports about the danger of smoke and second-hand smoke, but the problem remains, smoking is a legal activity in the state,” he said.

“The question then becomes, are we going to stop people smoking in their own homes?”

He said there were two options going forward.

“There’s a choice for government either it needs to making smoking illegal or it needs to give a body corporate the right to prohibit smoking or perhaps even fine people from smoking in a body corporate.”

He said the issue of smoking and pets were the two most “sensitive and stressful” issues in body corporates.

“They evoke really strong reactions in people, whether you are for or against.”

Press PLAY below to hear the discussion

Image: iStock