Surprise! R18+ Classification Discussion paper released

Mike Bantick
Monday, 14 December 2009 12:47

Opinion and Analysis

Without too much fanfare, the Australian Attorney-General’s Department has released the discussion paper and submission guidelines for feedback on the issue of having an R18+ Classification to bring video games and interactive entertainment in line with cinema and DVD ratings.

Knock me over with a feather, the long awaited discussion paper on a possible R18+ Classification for interactive entertainment in Australia has been released by the Attorney-General’s Department.

The paper discusses the history of the issues, and calls for public submission to bolster the debate over the pros or cons of bringing video game classification in line with cinema and DVD ratings.

The paper points out that despite there being a national classification board for rating decisions, each State does have the ability to override these decisions “States and Territories enact their own laws and make their own decisions for the purposes of deciding which classification categories will be available in their State or Territory. Each jurisdiction makes their own decision about whether to permit the sale of each classification category and not all jurisdictions would necessarily make the same decision.”

There is also an explanation as Why this discussion paper is being released now.

Research commissioned by the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) indicates adults are increasingly consumers of computer games.

The Australian Government has been discussing the adult classification of computer games with its State and Territory counterparts for some time. The Ministers responsible for censorship have considered the issue of an adult classification for computer games on a number of occasions. Before these Ministers consider the matter further, it is timely to consider the views of the community.

The discussion paper also points out that an X rating is not part of the discussion, but it also – perhaps unnecessarily - touches on the possibility that introducing an R18+ rating may encourage developers to release more formally banned material into the market place.  Given the largest boost in sales over recent years has been in the G and PG categories, it is hard to  see publishers green light even more niche material in the current economic climate, R18+ or not.

There is not much credit given to Australian parents and their knowledge of technology in the household: This effect of an R18+ classification for computer games is the same as for DVDsclassified R 18+. Even with the availability of parental locks, international research indicates that parents may not be well positioned to enforce classification restrictions.

A touch of South Australian Attorney General, Michael Atkinson is evident in the papers wording from time to time: Were an R 18+ classification introduced, the RC category would still exist for games with, for example, gratuitous or exploitative depictions of sexual violence, such as the sexual assault simulation game Rapelay. It could also include games that included violence with a ‘very high’ impact that offends against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified.

This is a call for public submissions, and a template for doing so is located on the Attorney-General’s Department site.

SEGA Australia must be in two minds about this decision, having been the victim of the latest ‘refuse classification’ ban with the impending Aliens Vs Predator.