R18+ Bill to be introduced in Parliament next month

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

According to GameSpot, the office of the Federal Minister for Home Affairs, Jason Clare, has confirmed that the bill to introduce an R18+ rating for video games will be tabled when Parliament resumes on February 7th. A spokesperson from Clare’s office told GameSpot:

“Our plans are to introduce the R18+ bill in the first session of parliament this year. If it passes the Lower House, it will then go to the Senate for the same process.”

For the bill to be passed in the lower house, it requires the support of two crossbench MPs (independents Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor, Andrew Wilkie, and Bob Katter; and Greens MP Adam Bandt), all of them remaining silent on the issue.

To be passed in the Senate, it must be approved by either the Greens or the Coalition. Shadow Attorney-General had doubts about the rating in the past, while the Greens are showed their support.

If the bill is passed, then Mortal Kombat and Syndicate will be able to get released with an R18+ rating, Left 4 Dead 2 would be uncensored, and a majority of violent games such as The Darkness II will get the ratings they deserve.

ALRC Report: Video Game Classification is Broken

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

The Australian Law and Reform Commission has just released a discussion paper commissioned last year by the Federal Attorney General, Robert McClelland. The ALRC agrees that the video game classification system is failing.

The ALRC has heard loud and clear that the current system is broken and no longer fits with how people are consuming media content. It is poorly equipped to deal with the challenges of media convergence, and the case for reform is strong. The ALRC is proposing reform that can be phased in to allow time for industry and the community to adapt to the new scheme. Responses to the paper will help inform the development of final recommendations for reform.

There are forty-three proposals, with the major one calling for an introduction of voluntary classification for G, PG, and M games.

“The classification of most other media content–for example, books, magazines, websites, music, and computer games now likely to be G, PG, and M–should become or remain voluntary. However, the ALRC proposes that industry bodies should develop codes of practice that encourage the voluntary classification of some of this other content, such as lower-level computer games, using the categories, criteria, and markings of the National Classification Scheme.”

In addition, games rated MA15+ or higher should be referred to the Classification Board.

More information is available on GameSpot.

The discussion paper can be found here. Note that submissions can be made before November 18, 2011.

NSW to postpone R18+ decision; wait for ALRC report

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

According to Kotaku Australia, GameSpot’s claims that New South Wales will derail the R18+ decision ahead of the SCAG meeting on Friday have been denied by Greg Smith’s spokesman. Instead, Smith is prepared to wait for the Australian Law and Reform Commission’s report to come out before making a final decision.

“Any suggestion that we’re trying to derail the R18+ rating for games is completely untrue. Is a train derailed because it stops at a station? All we’re trying to do is create a situation where we have more certainty for gamers when it comes to classification, instead of rushing into something.

“We’re not against an the R18+ rating for games at all, we just don’t want to rush it through. For example, we don’t agree with what John Rau wants to do either with removing MA15+ – instead of browbeating let’s get a national approach.”

John Rau’s decision to remove MA15+ and just replace it with R18+ would not only means that game classification would be out of step with films, but South Australians would also be unable to purchase the majority of titles rated MA15+.

“This has been on the agenda for a very long time now – over 10 years now? Waiting a little bit longer to make sure classification is done correctly is not derailing the process – why the rush now? We would just end up with bad policy.

“We understand the determination of gamers to get this thing through, but we need to look at it after the ALRC report to make sure this thing is right.”

So, in other words, just because gamers have waited for an R18+ rating for decades does not mean that the decision has to be rushed. After the meeting on Friday, it would make sense that other Attorneys-General would agree with Smith’s decision.

South Australia to replace MA15+ rating for games with R18+ rating

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

In March, Federal Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor reported that if everybody fails to unanimously agree to a adult-only rating, then the government would be considering other options.

According to Laura Parker, through her GameSpot article, this is exactly what South Australia will be doing, by introducing an adult-only rating, while abandoning the existing MA15+ rating. The South Australian Attorney-General John Rau has stated that his cabinet endorsed the proposal.

I’ve been consulting very broadly on this [issue] for a year now. I’ve been listening to parents and gaming advocates, and I have come to the conclusion that both points of view are legitimate and need to be accommodated. Recent moves by the federal government suggests that there will be an R18+ classification for video games in some form after the July [SCAG] meeting.

Of course, it would be ideal to have a uniform national scheme. That’s why we need to wait now to see how the federal arrangements will shake out. If there is a national opportunity to embrace R18+, South Australia will do it with the quid pro quo that MA15+ is eliminated as a classification and all games that are now rated MA15+ will be made R18+. This is what I want to happen in South Australia.

Laura also reports that the ACT Attorney-General, Simon Corbell, is also considering this approach if there is no unanimous agreement in July.

If the other states agree to introduce the same proposal, then the rating systems for games would be G, PG, M, R18+. This still makes it inconsistent with films that already have an MA15+ rating. Furthermore, the government has no intention of abolishing the Refused Classification category. So if games are still awarded an RC rating, then what’s the point of having an R18+ rating in the first place?

If the MA15+ rating needs to be removed, then why not 1) do it for films as well? and 2) amend the guidelines so that items currently rated MA15+ can fall under the M category and have the rest fall under R18+?

O’Connor Does Comparison of MA15+ Games

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

According to GameSpot, Brendan O’Connor, the Federal Minister for Home Affairs, has released a comparison between 11 games currently rated MA15+ in Australia to those in different countries, supporting the argument that games that are restricted to adults in other countries are being shoehorned into the MA15+ category.

Among the games in the list are Borderlands Bulletstorm, Duke Nukem Forever, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, F.3.A.R., and Left 4 Dead 2. All of the games in the list are already restricted to adults in Europe, Germany, New Zealand, North America, the United Kingdom, and Singapore.

While touring an EB store in Adelaide, he told GameSpot:

There are dozens of games that are currently classified as MA15+ in Australia, but in other countries, these gaming titles are restricted to adults only. If the new category is introduced, it could result in computer games that are currently classified MA15+ being reclassified R18+, providing a new level of protection for children. Games that are currently refused classification and do not meet the standard required for R18+ classification will remain in the refused classification category.

This issue has been on the table for almost a decade, without the necessary progress to make a change. This is the right decision for Australian families and the right decision for parents who want to be able to make informed choices about the games their children play. The time has come for state and territory attorneys-general to represent their constituents’ views at a national level and lay their cards on the table.

This hopefully means that the new R18+ rating will have its own bracket of classification and any existing game that got rejected, such as Mortal Kombat, will get the rating they deserve.