Neighbouring suburbs on the north coast of Tasmania have garnered an unwanted title for being Australia's worst localities when it comes to the number of smokers.
About 40 per cent of residents in Bridgewater and Gagebrook in Tasmania smoke, data from health policy think tank Mitchell Institute at Victoria University reveals.
This compares to the national average adult rate of 14 per cent smoking daily.
Neighbouring suburbs on the north coast of Tasmania have garnered an unwanted title for being Australia's worst localities when it comes to the number of smokers (stock image)
'Smoking kills, and it looks like six times more people in Bridgewater/Gagebrook in greater Hobart are going to die from illness caused by smoking than in Kur-ing-Gai in inner Sydney,' health policy lead Ben Harris said on Friday, World No Tobacco Day.
Risdon Vale in outer Hobart was the second worst performing suburb in the country at 34.4 per cent making it equivalent to the national rate more than 30 years ago.
Mount Druitt in NSW came an unenviable third at 31.2 per cent smokers with the South Australian suburbs of Elizabeth, Salisbury, Elizabeth North hitting 31.1 per cent.
Yet, upper northern Sydney suburbs of Gordon, Killara, Pymble had the lowest rate of smoking in the nation at 6.6 per cent.
The next door suburbs of Lindfield and Roseville ranked second best in the nation at 7.2 per cent, with nearby Epping, North Epping, Pennant Hills and Cheltenham third.
Australians with mental health conditions are more than twice as likely to be smokers as the general population, the institute reveals.
Mr Harris said where a person lives, their education and friends influenced smoking rates, and urged governments to channel funding to the communities most in need of quitting.
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