A new University of Melbourne study out today in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, says for people with psychiatric disabilities there has been little change in smoking rates for two decades, despite smoking halving amongst Australia’s general population.

Lead author Kristen Saxone-Moeller says smoking rates remain high despite 75% of respondents saying they wanted to quit or cut down.

The study found 62% of those surveyed smoked, compared to 16 per cent of the general population in Australia.