Indigenous NRL Sydney Rabbitohs players are fronting the first stage of a new gambling harm awareness campaign that reminds Aboriginal young people to ‘focus on the game, not the punt’.
Players, Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker, David Fifita and Tallis Duncan are the faces of the social media campaign after Souths Cares was named as one of three recipients of the Office of Responsible Gambling’s (ORG) Our Mob, Our Media, Our Message – Gambling Harm Prevention Grants.
South Cares is an independent not-for-profit public benevolent institution, delivering transformational education, employment, training and health promotion programs.
“Gambling is something that can have a bigger impact than people realise, and it’s important that young people have the right conversations around it,” said Cody Walker.
“I hope young Aboriginal people can take something from this campaign, look out for their mates and know that they can enjoy sport without needing to have a bet.”
Three female Rabbitohs players – Nancy Sullivan, Charlize Barrett and Jaminey Weatherall – will also feature in social media posts and video interviews in later stages of the campaign.
The first part of the campaign launched in July includes thought-provoking player quotes such as:
- “Sport should be about the game, not the bet.”
- “The house always wins. Don’t let gambling take what matters most.”
- “Protect your future. Don’t let a bet decide it for you.”
The next component of the campaign is being rolled during NRL Indigenous Round which kicked off last night through to 16 August, and will feature statistics about gambling. The final phase to be launched in September will comprise video interviews with the players discussing gambling harm and positive messages to combat it.
The Our Mob, Our Media, Our Message social media campaign is aimed at Aboriginal young people and co-designed by them alongside not-for-profit organisations with experience working with Indigenous communities.
Souths Cares partnered with Aboriginal young people through two youth consultation workshops involving participants from three of its community programs – the Deadly Youth Mentoring Program, Nanga Mai Marri Program and the Liverpool Opportunity Hub.
Their input helped shape the campaign messaging and identify recruitment opportunities for Youth Ambassadors, ensuring the campaign was youth-led and culturally appropriate.
Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation and Ungooroo Aboriginal Corporation also received funding to run co-designed social media campaigns to be launched at a later date.
The grants program was instigated by ORG after a recent survey showed around 10.4% of Aboriginal people in NSW experienced at-risk gambling, compared to 3.8% across the general population.
Minister for Gaming and Racing and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty, David Harris said the grants are an important initiative to reach young Aboriginal people to prevent and minimise harm from gambling and challenge attitudes among their peers and families.
“I am excited to see Souths Cares develop such an engaging social media campaign using its star Aboriginal players as ambassadors to get the message out that you don’t need to have a bet to enjoy sport,” said Mr Harris.
“The Office of Responsible Gambling was established to provide support to people experiencing gambling harm through a range of services including counselling and peer support through free face-to-face sessions or via telephone or online.
“The Minns Labor Government is committed to addressing harm and recently boosted GambleAware’s annual funding by $1.3 million to provide people experiencing gambling harm with greater access to support services.”
The program acts on advice from Aboriginal stakeholders and organisations on the importance of raising awareness about gambling harm among Aboriginal youth, as well as partnering with them to create culturally relevant messages using social media as an engagement tool.
