A high-tech gaze-based communications device is making the world of difference to NDIS participant, Taylor Williams.
(more…)It was obvious from a young age that Tyler Stackman was artistic, but a chance meeting last year helped transform his talent into a business.
(more…)Mahsa’s death while in custody of the country’s morality police has sparked protests across Iran, as both men and women rally against a regime where a young woman can lose her life for failing to wear a hijab in public. These have fanned out to protests globally, as people around the world seek to stand in solidarity with the women of Iran.
As a social justice organisation, SSI has a deep commitment to human rights – to the right to live free from violence, oppression and discrimination. SSI stands with the women of Iran and supports their right to protest injustice and to seek to uphold their basic human rights.
Human rights are universal. They transcend race, culture and gender.
So what can we do to stand in solidarity with the women of Iran? We can educate ourselves about the situation unfolding in Iran. A great starting point is this article from Iranian journalist, Masih Alinejad. We can also use our voices – take to social media to show our support and to amplify the voices of Iranian women, including following the hashtag #Mahsa_Amini. You can also join some of the protests happening in your area.
We all have a right to live free from persecution. Those of us privileged enough to already do so have the right and responsibility to show we stand in solidarity with Mahsa, Masih and all the women of Iran in their fight for justice and equality.
When Ms Ong first married, her husband had a good job, played football and met his friends for occasional poker nights. He then started to bet online.
“In the beginning, it was harmless, just a little bet now and then,” she said.
“But soon it became so frequent we didn’t have our nights together. Then I would catch him in the middle of the night, using two phones to place bets.”
Ms Ong is supported by Settlement Services International (SSI)’s Multicultural Gambling Harm Prevention and Support Services (MGHPS).
The service is designed for those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and provides free support in-language to individuals, families and communities experiencing gambling harm in Victoria. Assistance includes one-on-one counselling, group therapy and community information sessions.
Ms Ong reflected how the family dynamic started shifting as her husband spent less time with the family and more time online.
“His moods began to change. He would lose money and not want to talk about it or win money and either spend it on himself or another bet. Soon he was deep in gambling debt.”
“He never wanted to talk about his gambling issue making me feel guilty, as though the problem didn’t exist, and it was all in my head.”
Ms Ong separated from her husband who continues to struggle with gambling.
Warning signs that gambling could be getting out of hand include:
- struggling to manage finances or borrowing money to gamble
- spending more time or money than intended
- feeling guilty or stressed about gambling
- arguing with family after gambling or struggling to maintain friendships
While people may recognise these harms, they don’t always associate them with their own gambling.
Over the past two years, SSI’s MGHPS program has worked with 24 different community organisations across Victoria in 18 different languages, including faith communities and international student support groups, to help educate and raise awareness about gambling harm.
The theme of this year’s Gambling Harm Awareness Week is ‘Could gambling be affecting your wellbeing?’.
SSI Therapeutic Counsellor Jaynelle Samuels said that it’s important for stories like Ms Ong’s to be shared more widely.
“During Gambling Harm Awareness Week, we want people from diverse backgrounds to discuss the issue of problem gambling and the harms it can cause within our communities. We hope others speak out and ask for help.”
Individuals or families living in Victoria can access SSI’s Multicultural Gambling Harm Prevention and Support service on 1800 329 192 or via gamblingharmprevention@ssi.org.au. All calls are free and confidential.
If you live in another state, you can visit Lifeline’s problem gambling webpage or call on 13 11 14.
*To protect identities, pseudonyms have been used.
Arriving in Australia as a refugee last year, Hamid Ahmad Sarwary knew firsthand how hard it can be to settle into a new country.
(more…)The World of Cultures event featured included a showcase of culture from around the world.
The event hosted Logan City Council’s bid to join the Welcoming Cities initiative, which signals to the community as well as new migrants and refugees that the area’s cultural diversity is appreciated and valued.
A national initiative, Welcoming Cities is about inclusivity and social cohesion. So far up to 70 areas around Australia, representing 10 million citizens, have signed up.
This means they are committed to creating communities where everyone can feel that they belong and can participate equally in social, cultural, economic and civic life.
The Queensland city of Logan is home to an increasingly diverse population, with almost 30 per cent of residents born overseas. It is also one of Australia’s top ten humanitarian migrant settlement areas.
Local MP and Federal Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, attended the event to share in the festivities.
SSI’s General Manager Service Delivery, Yamamah Agha, spoke at the August 26 event, which was attended by local MP and Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers and City of Logan Mayor Darren Power along with hundreds of community members and their families.
Yamamah applauded the council’s efforts to ensure Logan was a welcoming place for migrants and refugees. This vision strongly aligns with the work of Access and SSI.
‘We’re not just working in local communities, we’re also working to create a world that is kinder, a world that is more compassionate and a world that gives everyone the same opportunity to realise their full potential,’ Yamamah said.
Community leader Beny Bol OAM said the event was a true reflection of the real ‘United Nations of Logan’.
‘It is about embracing and celebrating our diversity and creating a welcoming space for all the newly emerging multicultural communities, and we showcased this in a spectacular style of celebration,’ he said.
City of Logan Mayor Darren Power said the Welcoming Cities membership broadens Council’s commitment as a Refugee Welcome Zone and will further enhance community connections and activities that embrace all migrants in the city.
The free family event was made possible thanks to a generous grant from the Queensland Government’s Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs.
Access Community Services is part of the SSI Group.
Bev was engaged by the SSI Local Area Coordination (LAC) program to develop an artwork that speaks to the First Nations community. This artwork tells of her family’s journey with disability, and reflects inclusion, identity and belonging.
Morus Quin is a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community. Morus was engaged by the SSI Local Area Coordination (LAC) program to develop an artwork that speaks to the LGBTQIA+ community. The artwork reflects her journey with inclusion, identity and belonging, and speaks of her hope and optimism for the future.
After two years as a participant with SSI’s Local Area Coordination (LAC) program, Sabrina Morini, a 22-year-old woman with autism spectrum disorder, is kicking goals and keeping her sights set on the future.
(more…)Prime Minister Albanese has released a draft, simple form of words that could be put to Australians in a referendum, paving the way for First Nations people to take a rightful place in their own country.
Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities have an important role to play in supporting this proposal and elevating understanding of the challenges facing community members whose voices are often invisible to mainstream Australia.
There are many synergies between the First Nations and the migrant/refugee experience.
The sense of connection to their land of birth is important to those who leave their homelands to come to Australia – many arriving with a rich cultural and spiritual legacy and deep connections with the land.
Migrants and refugees can also relate to issues of land loss, trauma and being torn away from their people and traditional ways of life.
Those we work with, and many who work for multicultural community organisations, know firsthand what it is like to feel as though they don’t belong.
I’ve seen this in my work in CALD organisations, and in my own family, where many family members struggled to build a connection to mainstream Australia after migrating here from Greece after the second world war.
It is heart-breaking to be misunderstood or discriminated against simply because of difference. Whether that is difference of language, difference of customs, different spiritual beliefs, or different skin colour. We all benefit when our differences are recognised and celebrated. Sense of belonging grows when we are treated equally.
A key role of organisations working in the multicultural space, like Settlement Services International, is to welcome people from all over the world to our country.
We welcome them to a place where First Nations people have had a continuous connection to the land for more than 60,000 years, contributing culture, wisdom and care for the land that has not always been acknowledged, respected or considered.
But we reached a point in time where many of our First Nations people often don’t feel welcomed in their own land.
It is something that cuts to the heart of the experiences of multicultural communities too, where individuals and families often feel cutoff from the mainstream, despite making significant cultural, social and economic contributions to their new homes.
I acknowledge that discussions of constitutional matters can seem complex, and the debate might seem confusing or perhaps even not very relevant to migrants or new Australians who have their own issues to deal with.
However, to use the words of Prime Minister Albanese, it really boils down to ‘common decency, common courtesy and common sense’.
As he says, when governments listen to people, their policies can be more effective. Just as we want politicians to listen to CALD communities from hundreds of different backgrounds, and to understand their needs so that they may live a life where they can achieve their full potential, so we should ask it for First Nations people. It’s the right and decent thing to do.
What can we in the community services sector do then to help support this momentous opportunity for positive change?
Individually, we can reach out to First Nations people and organisations in our local area to better educate ourselves about Aboriginal culture and history. We can incorporate their voice in the work we do, and ensure we engage and hear from them often.
We can recognise that just as the newcomers we work for are from a variety of different nations, First Nations people in this country are from various countries with different customs and protocols. We need to make sure our consultations are place based and incorporate the appropriate cultural awareness.
Each day we can play our part in creating culturally safe places for First Nations people, whether at work or in community.
We can learn more about the Uluru Statement of the Heart and the Indigenous Voice to Parliament and talk to our family and friends about it, so that when the time comes, we can support the referendum.
CALD organisations are uniquely positioned to help educate new arrivals and create allies to the cause.
We can do this by incorporating recognition of First Nations people into our service delivery and encouraging respect and curiosity about the world’s oldest living culture.
CALD groups can support reconciliation by creating a First Nations voice in everything they do, as we are committed to doing at SSI.
SSI fully supports the recommendations made in the Uluru Statement of the Heart and we will play our part in supporting a yes vote in a referendum.
I urge you to join us. It’s time, Australia.