International Law

About time!

Promising news in yesterday's The Age:

The most violent video games around could soon be sold in Australia after the Federal Government said it was considering updating the classification system for games to include an R18+ rating.

Unlike films, magazines and other publications, there is no adult classification for games in Australia, so any titles that do not meet the MA15+ standard - such as those with excessive violence or sexual content - are simply banned from sale by the Classification Board.

Any changes to the censorship regime must be agreed to by the Commonwealth and all state and territory attorneys-general. The previous government was reluctant to put the issue on the agenda.

But a spokeswoman for the Minister for Home Affairs, Bob Debus, confirmed the issue of "whether or not to allow an R18+ classification" for games would be discussed by censorship ministers at the next Standing Committee of attorneys-general (SCAG) meeting on March 28. It will be the first time the issue is discussed since November 2005.

Read more here.

Full post as published by Freedom to Differ on February 25, 2008 (boomark / email).