The Dish - Central News

While gambling may be a culturally engrained norm in Australia, finding yourself in serious debt from betting is often shrouded in stigma and shame. For those who suffer heavy losses, it can be this humiliation and inability to reach out for help that leads them to consider the most serious form of self-harm - suicide. Brooke Young talks with gambling survivors and industry experts.

Nicholas Rupolo examines the increasingly hawkish rhetoric around Australia's relationship with China and the growing risk of a military confrontation. Speaking with experts and politicians, including former NSW premier Bob Carr and career diplomat Bruce Haigh, he asks if think tanks such as the Australian Strategic Policy Institute are having a disproportionate influence on the government's defence policy.

Some researchers believe there is a link between trauma and chronic, physical pain, and that traumatic experiences can switch the body's stress response system on high, causing pain to manifest in people physically as well as mentally. 

Emelia Coe investigates the science behind the theory, speaking to doctors, researchers and people who say they have experienced trauma-induced chronic illness first-hand. 

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many movie sets to shut down completely but it also saw high profile sets and stars arrive at our shores, from Marvel movies such as Shang-Chi to TV series like Nine Perfect Strangers. 

This brought in millions of dollars to major cities like Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast and regional towns such as Broken Hill and the NSW Northern Rivers, but many workers were still made redundant. 

Reporter Anna Dvorak, who has worked in the industry, looks at the impact of lockdowns on Australian films and the ongoing financial struggle of film makers, actors and workers. 

On September 11 2001, two planes flew into the Twin Tower buildings in New York in a coordinated attack by terrorist group Al-Qaeda. The attack was a turning point in the relationship of the United States with the Middle East. Twenty years on, the impacts of the national and foreign policy can still be felt from border and immigration control to the recent fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban. Central News reporter Olivia Nunes-Malek interviews Nancy Schneider from the Australian Institute of International Affairs, Professor Michael Humphrey, expert in Islam perceptions in the West and Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh, research professor of Middle East & Central Asian Politics. 

Presented by Olivia Nunes-Malek, edited by Soofia Tariq. 

Brought to you by Central News, Journalism Hub for the University of Technology, Sydney.

This week on The Dish, Central News reporter Georgia Vaughn talks to current and former teachers to address power imbalances in private schools, Sports reporter Fred Pawle brings a rundown of Purple Hearts, the first football team for neurodivergent players, and reporter Tess Fuller interviews freelance journalist Lee Tran Lam about her new anthology looking to bring cultural diversity to food media. 

Brought to you by Central News, Journalism Hub for the University of Technology, Sydney. 

Please note this episode contains discussions of sexual assault.

National conversations around sexual assault and women's safety issues have coincided with the re-opening of pubs and clubs. Women's safety advocates are concerned about the lack of research efforts devoted to understanding the prevalence of drink spiking in Australia over the past few decades.

An outbreak in Melbourne that saw 18 women hospitalised combined with social media activism has prompted victims to come forward with their  stories, revealing just how common this issue is and just how ill-equipped our hospitality industry is to respond.

Emilia Roux discusses necessary changes needed with advocates attempting to change Australia's response to drink spiking. 

In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. If  you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. Another resource is the Sexual Assault Counselling Australia hotline: 1800 211 028. In an emergency, call 000.

Disability funding in Australia is meant to be for the individual. But there have been problems accepting that this funding could be used to hire sex workers. A recent landmark court case has given the green light to this funding, but what does this mean in actuality?

Dana Rutner explores what sex worker services mean for people with a disability and how a new landmark decision will help support this service.

With the impact of COVID-19, the arts have taken a tumble. Artists, performers, venue-owners and more have seen less work, less income and less stability. The industry has done its best to work around the challenges 2020 has brought, loading us up with recordings of theatre shows, live-streamed concerts and even virtual art exhibitions, but the question still lies - how are our artists coping? And what does the future look like?