Adelaide City Council approves smoking ban in Rundle Mall

ADELAIDE City Council has approved on a long-awaited bylaw that will make smoking along Rundle Mall illegal.

Council has endorsed the decision made at a committee meeting earlier this month to ban smoking along the strip and adjoining laneways.

It is now expected to be rubber-stamped by state parliament's Legislative Review Committee before the council begins enforcing the ban in July.

Smokers will escape fines for the first six months of the bylaw, during which council officers will ask them to butt out and hand them a leaflet explaining the ban.

After that time expires, smokers will be fined $62.50 if they refuse to stop smoking.

Speaking at a full council meeting, Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood said the ratification of the law by council was a sign of "cultural change".



"People (now) expect more from the public environment than having smoke blown in their face," Mr Yarwood said.

"I think one per cent of the City of Adelaide where you can't smoke, and 99 per cent where you can, is a small victory, especially in a place where we have upwards of 25 million visitations per year."

Mr Yarwood said the bylaw was a "fair balance" considering the types of people who use the city retail strip.

"This is about places where people tend to gather, being the tables, chairs, the seats in the mall. That's where the old people need to rest, that's where the young people with young families need to rest," he said.