Globally, Australia is tracking well when it comes to smoking.
Measures such as advertising bans and plain packaging are driving down smoking rates.
But it is not the case for all communities.
New South Wales Chief Cancer Officer David Currow says smoking rates among Indigenous Australians are on par with some of the world's worst-ranked countries.
"As we think about the smoking rates in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, our challenge is that, as we look around the globe, these are smoking rates that we see in high-smoking-rate countries."
Almost 13 per cent of non-Indigenous Australians smoke daily, while, in Indigenous communities, the figure is almost triple that at just under 37 per cent.
Professor Currow says the rate is also higher in some ethnic communities.
"We know that people from an Arabic-speaking background are more likely to smoke, that parts of our Chinese communities are more likely to smoke."
The Chinese Community Council's Ernest Yung says that is usually because people continue the habit when they move to Australia.
"The smoking rates for the Chinese in China is very high, so, when they migrate to Australia, it also results in high smoking rates."
The New South Wales Cancer Institute will invest $425,000 into projects aimed at reducing rates in cultures with higher rates of smoking.
They include the Arabic, Indigenous and Chinese communities.
Of that, $150,000 will go towards a Chinese Australian Service Society project aimed at creating awareness about services available for those trying to quit.
Connie Tang works for Quitline, a counselling service for those hoping to stop smoking that is offered in a number of languages.
Ms Tang has welcomed the funding.
"A lot of the smokers don't speak fluent English, and accessing a line that doesn't have their own language can be quite anxiety-provoking. So, if they know that there is someone who speaks the language directly with them, it's more accessible for them."
Currently, more than 2 million, or 16 per cent, of Australians smoke.
The Australian Health Policy wants to see that figure reduced to 5 per cent by 2025.
Professor Currow, from the New South Wales Cancer Institute, says the funding is the next step in achieving that goal
"We're doing research with those communities as partners to understand what are the things that are going to be most relevant to those communities in getting the message that quitting is one of the most important things that they can do for their health."
While there is progress in Indigenous communities, National Coordinator for Tackling Indigenous Smoking Tom Calma says there is much still to do.
"Across Australia, Aboriginal (people) around the communities have really got on board and are starting to take on the challenge of giving up smoking, or not take it up. We're now down to 39 per cent of our population smoking, not good but much better than being over just 50 per cent just a decade ago. But (there's) a long way to go to reach what the general population is, around about 14 per cent."
