Games sector welcomes new R18+ guidelines

James Riley
Friday, 04 November 2011 13:47

IT Policy - Regulation

The video games industry's peak lobby has welcomed Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor's release of proposed classification guidelines for computer games that includes the introduction of an R18+ 'adult' classification.

Mr O'Connor said the Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games - which ammend draft guidlelines released for discussion in May - meant Australia was one step closer to introducing an adult category for computer games for the first time.

Attorneys-General and law minister from all Australian legal jurisdictions except NSW agreed in-principle to an R18+ rating in July. NSW then gave its in-principle support to the adult category in August.

"For the first time in the history of computer game classification in Australia, there is unanimous, in-principle support for the introduction of an R18+ category for computer games from all Law Ministers," Mr O'Connor said.

"Introducing the new classification will give parents better advice about what games are suitable for their children, while allowing adults to view material designed for adults."

Despite the addition of an R18+ category, violence, sexual violence and drug use had been strengthened at all levels of the proposed classification guidelines, Mr O'Connor said.

"Games with high impact violence that is, in context, frequently gratuitous, exploitative and offensive to a reasonable adult will not be permitted in the R 18+ category," Mr O'Connor said.

"And I want to make it clear that sexually explicit games, or games with very frequent and unduly repetitive strong and realistic violence, will not be classified under the MA15+ category."

Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (iGEA) chief executive Ron Curry welcomed the proposed classification guidelines, but said the iGEA remained concerned about the acknowledgment that interactivity has greater impact on players, despite the Federal Attorney-General's office publishing a literature review in December 2010 that found no evidence to support these claims.

"There will be continued debate about whether the interactivity of video games has a greater impact than other forms of media, and we will continue to refer to the lack of the evidence to support these claims," Mr Curry said.

"With that being said, we welcome the commitment from all parties involved to seek a reasonable outcome to address this longstanding issue."

"We now look forward to the Commonwealth, States and Territories implementing these guidelines in an expedient manner," he said.