Airdate: Struggle Street: The Conversation

Following the final episode of Struggle Street tomorrow night SBS screens a special discussing the issues raised in the series, hosted by SBS World News presenter, Janice Petersen.

On Friday Marc Fennell hosts Growing Up Tough: Beyond Struggle Street looking at how poverty and hardship impacts on younger members of the community.

Marshall Heald, SBS Director of Television and Online Content Director, said, “We’ve already had an incredible response to the first three episodes of Struggle Street. We’ve heard from a number of individuals and businesses who are all eager to help and make a difference to these people’s lives. That’s the power of a program like Struggle Street. The bigger question now is how we, as Australians, can make a real change and eradicate poverty in our own back yard. SBS is producing these additional programs to further drive the conversation, look at possible solutions and give the policy makers something to really think about.”

Over the past two weeks, observational documentary series Struggle Street, has been highlighting some of the issues facing Australia’s most disadvantaged communities.

Viewers have been shocked to discover the level of poverty facing 2.99 million Australians, including single mother Norma who faced homelessness after being evicted from her home and Michael, who faces a number of housing, financial and family issues.

This week, over the final three episodes, viewers will be introduced to Michelle and her daughter Jessica, who represent Australia’s growing number of carers who live below the poverty line and Sue, who like many other women aged 55+, is facing homelessness. They will also meet Indigenous man, Josh, who has recently left prison and is unable to find a home or job, due to his lack of identification.

In order to delve deeper into the complex issues and further ignite national debate to help Australians better understand the realities of social and economic hardship, SBS has commissioned two additional programs on SBS and SBS VICELAND.

Struggle Street: The Conversation will be hosted by SBS World News presenter, Janice Petersen, and follows the final episode of Struggle Street on SBS. The discussion program will include a range of prominent guests who will discuss the issues covered in the series and try and look at possible solutions.

The guests include Cassandra Goldie, CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service, John Hewson, economist and former leader of the federal Liberal Party, Susan Ryan, former Age Discrimination Commissioner and former Minister for Education and Youth in the Hawke Government, Graeme Innes AM, former Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Dr John Falzon, National CEO of St Vincent Paul Society, Graeme , Dr Megan Williams, Senior Lecturer, UTS Graduate School of Health and contributor to the NHMRC-funded Centre for Research Excellence on Offender Health at UNSW, and Dr Katherine Mills, Associate Professor and NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, and Director of Treatment Research, NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Mental Health and Substance Use, UNSW.

They will also be joined in the studio by Tamara who featured in Struggle Street after becoming a victim of a vocational loan scam. She has now focused on creating a better life for her and her daughter by starting her own cleaning business. Also joining the conversation is Lele, who ran The Koha Shed, an organisation that was set up to help New Zealanders and other people who fell through the cracks.

SBS VICELAND’s The Feed special, Growing Up Tough: Beyond Struggle Street, takes a look at the impact on children growing up amongst poverty, drug addiction and chronic unemployment. Hosted by Marc Fennell, the program will profile three young people who prove that with strength and resilience, it is possible to break the cycle of disadvantage.

In Brisbane, nine-year-old Kay-lee, one of the six surviving children of Norma who featured in Struggle Street, talks about the uncertainty and instability of her home life and how she is coping one year after her family were evicted from their home.

Tray is a primary school student from the northern suburbs of Adelaide; an area has been decimated by the decline of the Australian manufacturing industry. Tray’s dad is in jail and as a single parent, his mum Keirra struggles to cope. Can he break out of the cycle of inter-generational unemployment that grips the surrounding area?

Ashwa is a student in the western suburbs of Sydney. She’s an Iraqi refugee from the Mandaean minority who came out with her family in 2008. Ten years on, her parents don’t work and are still struggling to adjust to life in Australia. Is Australia the land of opportunity that her family had dreamt it might be, or does life as a refugee migrant present its own struggle to overcome?

In order to raise further awareness of the help available to Australians affected by the issues raised in the series, SBS is working with a number of charities and organisations who will provide further context, information and resources, including the Social Policy Research Centre, and the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.

Struggle Street: The Conversation 9.35pm, Thursday 7 December on SBS
Growing Up Tough: Beyond Struggle Street 8.30pm, Friday 8 December on SBS VICELAND (SBS rpt 9:30pm)