A strict childhood and difficult marriage left Elizabeth with little self-confidence. Free at last at 50, the pokies seemed a safe place for a woman her age to go. She now volunteers for Gambler’s Help.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Coming to Australia to study can be highly stressful, and gambling may seem a fun, new way to escape. Chinese Gambler’s Help supports students and others in the Chinese community to know the risks and recover from harm.
While there is no word for counselling in Arabic, Hoda Nahal is helping people from her community open up about gambling problems and recover from what often starts as a taste of ‘Australian culture’.
With activities like dancing, picnics and iPad training on offer, older members of Melbourne’s ethnic communities are saying no to pokies and getting down to some serious fun. Seniors from the Italian and Macedonian communities show us how it’s done.
The Horn of Africa Communities Network is training leaders from newly arrived communities to talk to people about the risks of gambling and to support those who ask for help.
Fleeing war in Lebanon 32 years ago, Nabil came to Australia to start a new life. After marriage and five kids, an unfortunate turn of events saw him seek comfort in gambling.
Sharing personal stories of gambling harm is helping Ky and other performers to heal, and allowing people in the Vietnamese community to open up about their own experiences.
While we need to step up research on gambling in ethnic communities in Australia, we know these groups gamble less than the general population, but their risk of gambling harm is higher.
After learning a large percentage of Vietnamese-Australian women prisoners in Victoria are in prison due to gambling, social work student Hai Doan started asking questions.
