Media coverage - Herald Sun: Owen Craigie warns of gambling pitfalls

Be it horses, trots, greyhounds, poker machines or card games, you name it and former NRL star Owen Craigie used to punt on it. Hardcore.

For 12 years, Craigie wrestled the daily demons of a gambling addiction that ultimately cost him everything that he had earned from playing rugby league.

In total, he lost more than $1.5 million. Houses, relationships, friends, family - Craigie went all in and lost the lot. If ever rugby league needed a reminder about the damage gambling can do, this is it.

Broken to the point where he contemplated suicide, Craigie turned to psychologist Phillip Hilder and Gamblers Anonymous for help.

Slowly, he's confronted his addictive personality and the triggers behind it to the point where he has rebuilt his life to work as a gambling education officer for Mission Australia in Newcastle.

"The topic of gambling in Aboriginal communities is just as big as your drugs, alcohol, domestic violence and your sexual abuse.

"Back in the day, I'd gamble every day. When you've got an addiction and a disease, that's what you do. There's no line, there's no limits; reality is you've got a problem.

Described by Andrew Johns as "the most naturally talented player I played with", Craigie made his NRL debut as a schoolboy aged 16 and won a grand final with Newcastle when he was 18.

During his 10-year, 153-game NRL career with the Knights, the Wests Tigers and South Sydney, he pocketed more than $1.5 million in earnings.

In between training and game days, his life was built around TABs and pubs in Newcastle, Rozelle and Redfern, always chasing the next big collect.

These days, instead of rushing to his local every Saturday to settle in for an afternoon of punting, you will find Craigie preaching the value of education.

As part of Mission Australia's Gambling Smart project, he has travelled to 11 Aboriginal communities in the past eight months and has nine communities still to go.

As far north as Tweed Heads, as far south as Nowra, west to Brewarrina and then in the Sydney suburbs of Redfern, Mt Druitt and Campbelltown, Craigie talks about everything from the stolen generation and alcoholism to the awful habit of sniffing petrol and glue.

Read the full article here

New ACT problem gambling service
Last week Mission Australia officially opened its new office in Canberra from where it is providing the ACT’s nation leading Problem Gambling Support Service, which commenced on 1 July 2011.

This service is an Australian first, with a focus on both preventing gambling problems and supporting those currently experiencing problems.

Clients can access the support service in a number of ways including face-to-face and over the phone. The number is 1800 858 858.

Read more about the launch here

Media coverage - ABC: Homebuyers shut out until 2020

House prices in capital cities are forecast to stay severely unaffordable for at least a decade, according to a study by the University of Canberra and AMP that found that median house prices jumped nearly 150 per cent between 2001 and 2011.

Sydney remains the most expensive place to buy a house while Hobart is the cheapest.

Ben Phillips from the University of Canberra is the lead author of the report by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) and AMP, which looked at housing affordability from 2001 to 2011.

Mr Phillips says housing in Australia has become severely unaffordable and will remain so for at least the next 10 years.

One of the most surprising figures to come out of the report was how unaffordable houses in places such as Newcastle and Wollongong were.

"It's now the case that these cities are actually just as unaffordable as somewhere like Sydney or Melbourne and the reason for this is because whilst their house prices are a little bit lower, their incomes are significantly lower than a city like Sydney," Mr Phillips said.

"I guess the distinction in this report though is we've sort of split it up into the housing haves and the housing have-nots, and the affordability report looks very much at those trying to get into the market as opposed to those who are already in the market," he said.

Read the full ABC report online

Read highlights from the report here (PDF download - 1.46MB)

New central office opens in Newcastle

Mission Australia has officially opened a new office in central Newcastle, which will be a base for a range of community services.

The new premises at 956 Hunter St, Newcastle West, enables Mission Australia’s Northern NSW Division to provide support services from one place rather than three separate offices across the city, which was previously the case.

Mission Australia will continue to provide important services to the community from this central location, including:

• Newcastle Adult Accommodation Support Services
• Personal Helpers and Mentors program
• Community development and Family Support
• Breakaway Post Release Support Program
• Hunter Gambling Counselling Program
• Gambling Smart Program

Mission Australia Operations Manager for Northern NSW, Lisa Short, said the new, central office will have many advantages for the local community.

“I am very excited about this move, as it provides a range of services for the community in one place,” Ms Short (pictured left) said at yesterday’s launch. She was joined at the launch by Newcastle Lord Mayor John Tate as well as Mission Australia Executive Leader - Community Services Lincoln Hopper and our Chief Operating Officer Catherine Yeomans (both also pictured).

“It has been part of our longer-term vision for Newcastle for quite some time, so seeing it actually come together is extremely satisfying.”

“Having such a large team situated together assists us in keeping abreast of the local issues at a grassroots level,” she added.

“I am hoping that the prominent position in the heart of the city will increase our local profile and be more accessible to our clients and the community.”

National Survey of Young Australians 2010

Mission Australia’s annual survey of young Australians aged 11 to 24 continued to draw plenty of attention a week after its official launch - including from readers of The Daily Telegraph online.

To help promote this year’s National Survey of Young Australians 2010, Mission Australia and Leo Burnett Sydney developed a clever online advertising campaign that challenged widely held perceptions of young people.

Titled ‘You're Probably Wrong’, the online ad consisted of a short multiple-choice test on an interactive microsite that highlight some of the more surprising finds about the values and issues of the Australian youth. You can take the test at youreprobablywrong.com.au

The survey was also covered across Australian media, including...

• Sarrah Le Marquand, Daily Telegraph:  'Aussie teens stressed about stress'
• Jacqui Jones, Newcastle Herald: 'Survey highlights what young Australians want'
• Tory Maguire, The Punch: 'Which comes first, a problem or its definition' 
• Steve Lillebuen, SMH: 'Youth body image concerns worsen: study'
• MA VIC State Director Paul Bird, The Punch:
  'Fear of violence is killing Victorian culture'.
• Mia Freedman, MammaMia:
  'The #1 concern for young people is body image. And stress'. 
• ABC TV, News: View at this link. 
• ABC Radio, The World Today: 'Young Australians feeling more stressed'
• Mission Australia news: Read on at this link

Mission Australia celebrates 150th birthday in Newcastle today

Mission Australia will celebrate its 150th birthday with a morning tea in Newcastle today to thank loyal donors, volunteers and staff in the Hunter for their tireless support over the years.

Special guest at the event is the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Cr John Tate. He’ll be joined by around 100 other guests representing government departments, funding bodies, corporate partners, individual donors, volunteers and Mission Australia staff.

Lisa O’Brien, Mission Australia’s Operations Manager for Northern NSW, said the organisation had a long history in the region, originally providing support to families and children via the Mayfield Baptist Church before evolving into the Hunter Mission in 1991 and then joining the Mission Australia family in 2000.

“We run a range of crucial services for individuals and families in need in Newcastle and throughout the Hunter,” said Ms O’Brien.

“Our homeless services – such as Mission Australia’s Newcastle Adult Accommodation Support Service (NAASS) and The Signpost – focus on helping people at risk of homelessness maintain their housing or provide a first point of contact for homeless people to access assistance, including low cost accommodation.

“Our services for young people detect signs of problem behaviour and help divert them from the juvenile justice system. For those leaving detention we provide the support they need to get their lives back on track so they can avoid re-offending.

“We work with people with mental illness and help them overcome social isolation and participate in their community through education and employment.

“Our financial services help a diverse range of clients – from people in a bad position because they’ve lost their job and are unable to manage their debts through to those battling addiction.

“Our employment programs have been helping long-term jobseekers in the Hunter for more than a decade.

“And we have five new early childhood services in the area – which we recently took over from ABC Learning – and which emphasise supporting children to make a successful transition to school.

“These are examples of just some of the services we run in Newcastle and the Hunter – programs that make a real difference in people’s lives – but which we couldn’t run without the support of our loyal local donors, volunteers and business partners.

“We really look forward to celebrating our 150th with all our friends,” said Ms O’Brien.

To read more about Mission Australia's 150th Anniversary, please visit the 150th website (click here).