A study of Aboriginal people has found that three times as many smoke as the rate in the wider community.
The Flinders University survey found that 68 per cent of people in the study smoked compared with 21 per cent in the overall population.
Professor Fran Baum says the survey also found nearly half of those interviewed did not drink alcohol, compared with less than a quarter of the general population being non-drinkers.
"Those that did drink maybe drank a bit more but there were a greater number of Aboriginal people that don't drink so I think that we challenged some stereotypes there," she said.
The study found racism had a major health effect.
Professor Baum says the study found that 93 per cent of respondents had experienced racism often or very often.
"That really affects how people feel about themselves," she said.
"That has an effect on mental health and people described how they get knots in their stomach, they'll get headaches, they'll feel tense, a whole range of effects."
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