Australia has the greatest gambling losses per capita in the world; 20% of pokie machines in the world; 75% of which are in suburban pubs and clubs -this ease of access is major predictor of harm. Pokies are particularly predatory for vulnerable women.
Three Sides of the Coin project enables people with lived experience of gambling harm to become advocates for change. Their personal stories are shared through both online and live performances, which educate the community and train professionals about gambling harm and the intersections of gambling with other health issues eg mental health, family violence, drugs, alcohol, crime. The purpose is to disrupt the normalisation of gambling, reduce stigma, humanize the people behind the addiction, increase help-seeking, and frame gambling as a public health issue.
Three Sides of the Coin project is looking for $14K to add one 6min lived experience Recovery Gamble video story to our bank of 7 stories. See trailer here: https://threesidesofthecoin.org.au/video-stories/
A women, Carolyn, who has workshopped with our artistic director to theatrically tell her story, is ready to enter the filming process. She was sent to jail for embezzling money to feed her gambling addiction. This real-life video story of gambling harm to recovery (includes animation and music), will be shared in a non-linear, interactive way with broad audiences, both community and professional, as an educational tool, with the protagonist present for QandA.
Output:
6min Recovery Gamble video story crafted theatrically with music and animation.
This story will highlight the predatory nature of pokie machines, designed by psychologists to be addictive, especially impacting vulnerable women.
https://threesidesofthecoin.org.au/video-stories/ see trailer of other stories
Who will benefit?
The video stories significantly increase the reach of Three Sides of the Coin, and are a lasting tangible benefit to:
- Project participants with lived experience of gambling harm empowered by owning and transforming their stories into positive community impact
- People who view the video (gamblers, family/friends, vulnerable populations, general public)
- Professionals in allied sectors with intersecting issues, as educational tool - mental health, drug and alcohol, family violence, justice services
- Clients of mental health, drug and alcohol, family violence, justice etc services
- Three Sides of the Coin Professional Development attendees
- Conference attendees when Three Sides of the Coin presents
Three Sides of the Coin project has developed an Evaluation tool in collaboration with First Person Consulting. A feedback form will accompany the videos, asking key questions around shifts in attitude, new understandings and proposed actions.
Other evaluations are vox pops feedback after a screening, direct feedback about organisational shifts (eg Lifeline added a screening question about gambling after a PD session); website stats.
Carolyn's video story will help:
- mobilise lived experience stories as a key tool in education
- change stigmatising language such as ‘responsible gambling’, ‘problem gamblers’
- de-shame gambling and encourage help-seeking
- view gambling as a public health issue with a need for legislative reform
- educate the justice system to understand gambling as an addiction, so that sentencing is proportionate
Videos will be screened at PDs, conferences and meetings, together with a Q&A facilitated by one of the storytellers.
Organisational partnerships will use these videos to support and educate their clients.
Newsletters with film clips will inform targeted communities of upcoming workshops run by 3SOC, and new monologues will be crafted and filmed, to add to our existing Recovery Gamble library.
Our lived experience advocates will continue to do radio interviews, appear on forums such as ABC’s You Can’t Ask That, and ask questions at AGMs and shareholder meetings.
SHARC consists of four main programs related to the alcohol and other drug (AOD) sector:
– Residential Peer Programs provides housing to people in recovery
– APSU is an AOD-services consumer advocate
– Peer Projects is a peer-workforce development program
– Family Drug and Gambling Help provides support, counselling and education to family members of people affected by AOD and gambling addictions
It is what the MCC groups are all about: men being accountable for learning about and responding to inequality and, importantly, supporting women who have been leading the charge for decades. Like many men, I am a newcomer to these issues and am learning as I go.
Also known as Australian Women Donors Network (ABN: 28 141 197 471), Australians Investing in Women is a registered charity endorsed by the Australian Tax Office as a deductible gift recipient (DGR1) under a special listing, all donations over $2 are tax deductible.