RGAW Event – Media Matters
The PEACE team has been working long and hard over the last few weeks across a variety of different events for Responsible Gambling Awareness Week.
It is late on a Friday afternoon and attendees are slowly ambling into the Hindmarsh site for an information session aimed at ethnic media.
Today’s focus is to outline the specific roles that different media organisations have to play in educating and empowering their respective communities, the foundation of what PEACE stands for. The team has prepared a schedule of presentations today to help attendees respond to a variety of different relationship issues.
There are representatives from Indian, Punjabi, Nepali, Egyptian and Australian backgrounds and they have come today to network, expand their knowledge and ask questions about how best to achieve these outcomes.
The event is opened by Memoona who gives a welcome to country and outlines the schedule followed by a presentation by Enaam entitled, ‘The Role of Media’. She discusses how gambling affects community and how common misconceptions shape group attitudes towards these types of issues within ethnic groups. The role of media in informing these communities is then elaborated by talking about how media can inform migrant communities about issues such as mental health, access to services and the breaking down of stigma.
Enaam fields questions and given the professional background of the attendees, there are many, making for a comprehensive and engaging discussion.
There is then a short presentation given by Melvin, who elaborates on his lived experience of gambling harm and talks about how his family was affected by cultural barriers migrating to Australia. Again, the attendees have plenty of questions about how they may be able to address specific issues inherent in Melvin’s story such as how culture stops people seeking help, silence around mental health issues and how gambling culture in Australia can seem very inclusive yet the larger risks and impacts are unannounced.
Enaam then provides the group with a chance to consult with her on an upcoming mental health seminar she will be a part of and invites the group to give their ideas as to how she may best inform her work. Much like the rest of the evening the discussion is diverse, lively and productive.
The group then poses for a photo and is invited to share a meal and network, which they do in kind.
