SEVEN Australian universities have banned all smoking on their campuses since 2010 but Charles Sturt University (CSU) does not plan to join them.
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The University of Adelaide, Swinburne University in Melbourne and all four Western Australian universities have called it quits on smoking areas.
The University of Western Sydney followed suit on January 1 with a ban it described as "a positive move for the health of our staff, students and visitors, as well as the environment".
Dean of students at CSU, Professor Julia Coyle, said while the university was watching these early adopters with interest, health education was better than a "punitive" ban.
"We have multiple campuses across states and across nations so that makes [a complete ban] quite complicated," Professor Coyle said.
She added many CSU students lived on-campus in residences, such as the self-catered cottages on Dubbo campus.
The university currently prohibits smoking in all buildings, areas adjacent to their entrances, exits and windows, in carparks, walkways and enclosed spaces.
But Curtin University professor Mike Daube said that was not enough.
"A complete ban would protect non-smokers; it would encourage smokers to quit," the health policy professor said.
"In WA, there's been not a squeak of unhappiness about it.
"It's just accepted as the norm.
Professor Daube said the cleaning and supervision of designated smoking areas posed occupational health and safety concerns for universities.