It is estimated about 75 per cent of the more than 11,800 inmates in NSW prisons smoke.

There are 522 male and female inmates at the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre (MNCCC) at Aldavilla.

The introduction of a smoking ban in Victoria last month was widely blamed for a 15-hour riot at the Melbourne Metropolitan Remand Centre.

The Immediate Action Team at the MNCCC, which responds to special jail security events, has been placed on standby, although prison officials are expressing confidence that the transition will go smoothly.

Glen Scholes is the director of custodial operations for the NSW northern region, based in Kempsey.

“I have been travelling all over my area of responsibility and I can tell you that from all my discussions with inmate delegate committees and staff, because this applies to them as well, I don’t think we will have any big problems,” he said.

Mr Scholes said inmates would receive a lot of help to quit the tobacco habit.

“We know this is hard and we realise it is an addiction and a difficult one to give up,” he said.

“The one thing in our favour is the prison environment is free of all the triggers that make giving up difficult, like alcohol or other people smoking around you."

Inmates will receive eight weeks supply of nicotine patches, and nicotine lozenges will be available at all NSW prison stores.

Current prescriptions for patches, which can be up to six months, will continue to be valid.

Mr Scholes said he was not expecting a prison riot similar to the one seen in Victoria last month.

“We looked at the Victorian experience and I can tell you our way of operating is very different,” he said.

“New Zealand prisons are smoke-free as are those in Queensland and they have managed the change with minimal disturbance and I believe we will too.”