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Introduction and Aims. Approximately 25% of the Australian population was born abroad, yet there has been very little tobacco control aimed at culturally and linguistically diverse communities and limited data exist on smoking among Australian migrants. The aim of this study was to compare smoking characteristics of Australian migrants (in terms of place of birth and age migrated) to those of Australian-born residents. Design and Methods. A cross-sectional analysis of self-reported questionnaire data from 53207 women and 48777 men aged 45years or over in The 45 and Up Study in Australia (2006-2008) was performed. Results. 52.6% (95% confidence intervals 52.1-53.0) of men and 35.5% (35.1-35.9) of women reported ever being a regular smoker and 7.6% (7.4-7.8) and 7.3% (7.1-7.5) reported current smoking, respectively. Compared with Australian-born men, a higher proportion of men born in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East were current smokers, with odds ratios adjusted for age, income, education and place of residence (OR; 95% confidence intervals) ranging from 1.30 (1.16-1.45) to 1.96 (1.49-2.58). Compared with Australian-born women, a lower proportion of women from East (0.21; 0.12-0.36) and Southeast Asia (0.38; 0.26-0.54) were current smokers and a higher proportion of women from New Zealand (1.45; 1.17-1.79) and the UK/Ireland (1.25; 1.12-1.40) were current smokers. Among women born in Asia, the risk of smoking increased significantly the younger they migrated to Australia. Duration smoked and amount smoked per day were primarily lower among migrants than Australian-born. Conclusions. Smoking prevalence varies substantially across cultural subgroups. Understanding smoking dynamics across diverse cultural groups will assist in better targeting of tobacco control programs.

Objective: To compare the characteristics of people who utilize colorectal cancer screening tests with those who do not. Setting: Self-reported questionnaire data from 15,900 women and 14,953 men aged 50 or over who had never had colorectal cancer were taken from the 45 and Up Study cohort in Australia in 2006. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of colorectal cancer test behaviour within the last five years by faecal occult blood test (FOBT), or by any test (FOBT, sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy) was performed. Results: A total of 36.2% of participants reported colorectal cancer testing and 17.9% reported having a FOBT. Both FOBT and any testing were reduced significantly in groups with the following attributes compared with the remaining population; ages 50-59 and 80+; female; no family history of colorectal cancer; lower education; lower income; not speaking English at home; lack of private health insurance; not being retired; not living with a partner and not having other screening tests. Compared with other participants, test uptake was particularly low among current smokers (relative risk 0.76, 95% CI 0.71-0.80), sedentary participants (0.71, 95% CI 0.66-0.77), those without fruit (0.77, 95% CI 0.71-0.84) or vegetables (0.79, 95% CI 0.69-0.90) in their daily diet and those with a disability (0.91, 95% CI 0.85-0.97). Compared with participants from major cities, outer regional area participants were significantly more likely to report a FOBT (1.31, 95% CI 1.23-1.39) however participants in remote areas were significantly less likely to have had any colorectal cancer test (0.75, 95% CI 0.67-0.85). Conclusion: Subgroups of the Australian population may require targeted intervention to ensure equity in colorectal cancer screening.