EFA supports the recently announced move for creation of an R18+ rating category for computer and video games. Currently, only video games which the government deems suitable for a 15-year-old can be sold in Australia, resulting in a censorship regime that is out of line with community standards and expectations.

The issue is to be discussed at the upcoming meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General on March 28. We encourage the attorneys-general to bring Australia into line with the rest of the developed world, and recognise the fact that adults play games too. Since most gamers are now over 18, there are no compelling reasons why games should be treated any differently to the rest of our entertainment media. Recent research has found the average age of the Australian gamer to be 28.

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Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) has lodged a submission to the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department (AGD), arguing that Australian consumers be given the right to make digital copies of their films, photographs, and computer and video games for their private use.

The submission is in response to the AGD's review of sections 47J and 110AA of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), which currently only permit certain forms of analog to digital and digital to analog copying. For example, the current law allows Australians to digitise a purchased photo once, or to print a purchased digital photo once, or to make a DVD copy of a VHS tape.

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