SCAG Meeting Postponed

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

The Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, who meet up to determine changes to Australia’s classification system, last met earlier this year to discuss the public consultation and after much deliberation, were seeking to hear both sides of the argument so that they could make a final decision.

That decision was going to be made at the meeting that was to be held at the end of this month. Unfortunately due to the upcoming Federal Election, this meeting has now been postponed until November 4-5.

Source: Games.On.Net

Discussion paper not good enough: O’Connor

Monday, May 10th, 2010

The SCAG meeting took place in Melbourne last Friday to review the discussion paper. With 60,000 submissions, of which 98.2% were in favour of an R18+ rating, Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor described this an “overwhelming” effort. Unfortunately, with only one Attorney-General absent from the meeting no final decision has been made.

And despite the majority in favour, according to Games.On.Net, O’Connor has requested further analysis from the community and expert views before making a final decision on whether Australia receives an R18+ games rating. The Federal Attorney-General’s department has released a status report, available for download here. O’Connor helps this would ensure that community is kept well-informed of its progress.

The report provides statistical breakdowns as well as summaries of the positions taken by various lobby groups. Interestingly, only one religious group, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, spoke out in favour of the new rating.

The Australian Catholic Bishops (ACB) state that their preferred position is that R 18+ material would not be available in Australia. However, as material is currently available despite its illegality, it would be preferable to introduce an R18+ classification category for computer games so that access to such material, particularly by children, can be restricted.

Well, at least one religious group is using common sense!

EA calls for R18+ rating

Friday, May 7th, 2010

The SCAG meeting takes place in Melbourne today, and we are yet to find out whether Australia finally receives an R18+ rating for video games. In the meantime, Frank Gibeau, president of EA games, has released a statement (through gamesindustry.biz) likening Australia’s refusal to add an R18+ rating is a form of censorship, and he urges the Attorney-Generals to vote unanimously in favour of the new R18+ rating. The statement reflects not only his views, but the views of his entire company that adult consumers can make their own choices.

Gibeau then goes on to explain the changes in the userbase, saying that the average age of gamers is 28, yet the rating system only goes up to MA15+. This “demonstrates a distance between those policies and the reality of the video game industry and the people that play interactive games in Australia today.” and the legislation “effectively censor[s] entertainment choices for adults.”

Read the full statement here. Note that you have to login or register with the site to be able to read it.

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On a different note, some users are posting irrelevant comments to articles or attacking other users. Anyone who is found flooding the comment section with nonsense or carries out attacks on others will have their comments removed. If you have something useful to say about an issue, then feel free to add your own opinion.

R18+ Petition breaks Australian record

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

According to PAL Games Network, the EveryonePlays campaign calling for the government to introduce an R18+ games rating has generated a very positive response. Over 89,000 signatures has been collected, breaking the 2005 “abolish WorkChoices” campaign of 85,000. This does not include those submissions made online.

When the next SCAG meeting takes place in Melbourne on May 7, will this be enough to convince all attorney-generals to agree to the new rating?

55,000+ responses to Discussion Paper

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

According to a report in The Australian, the Federal Government has received over 55,000 submissions on whether an R18+ rating should be introduced for video games. The government will now prepare a report for the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General based on these submissions, with the next SCAG meeting to be held sometime in April.

An introduction to an R18+ rating still requires the unanimous support between the Commonwealth, states, and territories, and the high number of submissions might or might not convince those that are against the rating to change their stance. So we can only sit back and hope that come April an R18+ rating for games will be added so that children are better protected from inappropriate material and that the Classification Board can rate games on a consistent basis.