I wonder if ASH (Action for Smoking and Health) would be interested in raising a fighting fund to get cigarette smoke legally established as a 'nuisance' under the terms of the Strata Act. This would probably take a High Court action for a definitive precedent to be set.
Also, under the suggested revisions of strata laws, we should pressure the government to make the enforcement of by-laws obligatory rather than optional for Owners Corporations. Why would that make a difference? Because you would know what kind of place you were moving into from reading the by-laws.
For instance, in my own building we aren't allowed to have air conditioning – this is a good thing as the building has won awards for being designed to be cooled by natural airflow. Result: You have to keep your windows open in Summer.
We also aren't supposed to let smoke from cigarettes, cigars, pipes or barbecues pass from balconies into other lots … but the majority of members of the EC have barbecues (not, by the way, the majority of residents) so that one is never enforced. Result: Choose between baking in the heat of summer with the windows closed or being choked by the handful of selfish bastards who don't care where the smoke and stink from their precious ciggies and barbies goes (as long as it's not in their units)…
Just as an aside, did anyone following this story notice how the poor bloke in the centre of all this went from “fitness fanatic” to “cancer victim” in the headlines? Meanwhile, the story refers to 'body corporate' and 'tenancy tribunal'. No biggie, in either case, but an indication of how far away we are from the majority of people in this country knowing (or caring) what goes on in strata.