Some of EFA’s campaigns, such as fighting against the Internet Filter and pushing for a R18 rating for video games, can be seen as long-term goals. We’ve been fighting them for a number of years and sometimes it can be difficult to see light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how hard we try or how logical our arguments seem to be.

Today we’ve made a significant step towards one of those goals, the government has announced in-principle support for introducing a R18 rating on video games; this means that its introduction is now all but certain and we could see it being implemented within months.

Part of the why it has taken so long is the result of how difficult it is for changes to censorship laws to be conducted inside Australia. The decisions ultimately come down to the Attorney Generals of each state and territories who must all agree unanimously. Decisions such as these are typically made at the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General meeting (SCAG) which only occurs three times a year. As you’d know, the Attorney General in each state is appointed by the majority government of that state. As a result, the list of active Attorney Generals is in a constant state of flux as each state and territory changes government in elections.

Historically we’ve have had some Attorney Generals in strong support of the reforms and others in strong opposition, but in many cases those in support have lost office before they’ve convinced their counterparts in the other states. Getting all our ducks in a row, as it were, was a seemingly impossible task.

So what’s changed? The Gillard government has come out in strong support of the introduction of the R18+ rating essentially saying that they’d planned to go ahead regardless of what the state Attorney Generals thought. Indeed there hasn’t been unanimous support this time around either with New South Wales failing to fully commit claiming they haven’t had enough time to form a viewpoint (despite the fact this topic has been out in public debate for years).

Consequently new games rated as R18+ by the Australian Classification Board will be banned under current New South Wales law, but these changes make it possible for that state to address the law in their own time, rather than holding back the rest of Australia.

South Australia have also put forth an interesting position where they support the R18 rating but also wish to eliminate the MA15+ rating for video games entirely within their state and place any games currently falling within its guidelines inside the new R18 rating. They claim the reason for this is so that parents have a clearer understanding that R18 means ‘not suitable for children’ and that parents are currently confused by the current MA15+ classification. The important thing to note is that, like New South Wales, these changes only have effect within South Australia.

Regardless of the positions of these two states this decision allows their debate to be restricted to their individual state borders and not hold back the reforms for the rest of Australia. It will also make it easier for people within those states to lobby more effectively.

There is, however, room to be cautious as the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has published a press release cautiously welcoming the decision. This will come as a surprise to those who have been following the debate as they have traditionally been one of the largest groups opposed to these reforms (despite the fact their view are shared by only a fraction of Australians).

The ACL feels that rather than allowing previously banned games to be available under the R18 banner, they will remain in the Refused Classification bracket and remain illegal to be sold. Is this going to be the case? We’ll have to wait and see how exactly it’s implemented, but make no mistake, we’ve taken a very positive step today.

Ultimately the thanks for the introduction of the R18 rating fall to one particular group of individuals: you. The only reason that these reforms have been made possible is that people, just like you, have tirelessly campaigned in the face of seemingly impossible odds. It is this campaigning that has made the Gillard Government push forward and ultimately secure the commitment of the individual Attorney Generals.

Congratulations all, you did it.

Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) today welcomed the release of draft
guidelines for the classification of computer games that includes an
adults-only category.

"Australia is the only developed country where computer games with adult
themes are seized at the docks," said EFA Chair Colin Jacobs. "It is long
past the time to harmonise classification laws and give adults the freedom to
choose what to watch and play. Whether the disc goes into the DVD player or
game console, the principle should be the same."

The guidelines include an R18+ category for adults-only games. Games that do
not fit into the MA15+ category are banned for sale in Australia under the
current system. For the new guidelines to be adopted, the agreement of all
the states is required.

"The federal government has shown strong leadership in this area which we
applaud," said Jacobs. "This is something the public wants and it would be a
scandal if one recalcitrant state attorney-general derailed it to score
points or because they thought it was all too hard."

"This isn't about putting more violent games into the hands of kids," added
Jacobs. "It's the opposite, a category that is specifically forbidden to
children. In a free country like ours, giving adults that choice shouldn't be
controversial."

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The Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) met on Friday, with the creation of an R-18+ category for computer games a top agenda item. Because changes to the classification code require unanimous agreement by all states and the Commonwealth, this is the body where the games reform is going to live or die.

With the commonwealth government strongly behind the reform, there was almost feverish excitement amongst gamers that the AGs would finally get this over and done with. Michael Atkinson, former South Australian Attorney-General, almost single-handedly stalled reform in this area for years, but his departure at the last S.A. election also raised hopes that the stars had finally aligned and Australia would join the rest of the developed world in allowing adults to play games designed for them.

As you probably know by now, there's been no such luck. Although we haven't been able to find out the exact details, it appears that once again one or two of the state AGs have decided to prevent things moving forward. Comments by the WA Attorney General, Christian Porter, strongly indicate that he at least was not ready to push forward with reform. So the outcome of Friday's meeting was a "no" - but it might still be a "no, not yet."

What SCAG did agree to was to make an inquiry into possible changes to the MA-15+ category that would be necessitated by an R-18+ rating. Some of the recent debate has been around the fact that games that would otherwise be rated R-18+ are slipping into the MA-15+ category to avoid being banned, so this might be the reason for the decision. More likely, in our view, is that was all the committee could agree to do on the day. But it does mean the debate is not over.

Reports from the day indicate that the AGs continued to be lobbied by the Australian Christian Lobby and were shown footage of the most violent games on the market today. It's a shame that the focus of the debate appears to still be on whether violent games are ugly, and not whether they can be better restricted to those who are old enough to decide to play them.

This was a very disappointing result after three years of extensive research, consultation and lobbying. But we know the issue will be back on the agenda in the first half of next year, probably in March. There's still time to ratchet up the pressure and get the states to see the light. We'll be launching a campaign in the new year to help focus this pressure in the places, and on the people, where we think it will be most effective.

In the meantime, there's been a bit of good news. The Western Australian Liberal Party State Council has already passed a motion calling on Porter to support the R-18+ reform in the future. Perhaps there's hope that the recalcitrants really can be brought into line by a bit of gentle pressure from all directions.

On behalf of EFA I had a bit of a debate on-air with the Australian Christian Lobby's Jim Wallace on this subject on Friday night. If you'd like to have a listen, download the audio here.

Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) today urged state governments to continue the momentum for classification reform, following a lack of agreement by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General to establish an adults-only classification for computer games. Currently, computer games that would be rated above MA-15+ are banned for sale in Australia.

"This is a reform that has overwhelming public support and is long overdue," said EFA Chair Colin Jacobs. "For over a decade, games have been treated differently to movies, causing dozens of popular titles to be banned in Australia. It's high time this situation was remedied."

Changes to the classification code require unanimous agreement by the states. The issue of creating an R-18+ category for games was discussed today at a meeting of Australian attorneys-general, with the state representatives instead agreeing to consult on potential impacts to the MA-15+ category.

"We urge the state governments to listen to their people and remove any obstacles to this reform," said Jacobs. "The research shows we can give adults the choice to consume entertainment appropriate for them, while actually enhancing the ability to protect children. Seeing this change through is really a no-brainer, and Australians gamers have waited long enough."

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There have been some very interesting developments in the last week in the push to finally reform the classification system to create an R-18+ rating for computer games. It's an issue that has languished for years despite overwhelming public support. Finally, it seems to be gaining some momentum thanks to actions by the Commonwealth Government.

Currently, any game that does not fit into the MA-15+ ratings category is banned for sale or importation into Australia. Given how popular games have become, and the average age of the Australian gamer (over 30), this is nothing if not an anachronism. Reform has been in the works for years, but due to the complexities of the censorship system, it requires the unanimous agreement of all the states to make a change to the classification code. The attorneys-general are meeting this Friday and will discuss the issue. In the past, South Australia in particular have blocked any action for years, but with a new Attorney General in the portfolio, we're optimistic an agreement might be reached. Here's why.

Firstly, we saw the Attorney General conduct a public consultation into the introduction of an R-18+ rating. (You can read EFA's joint submission with Ausgamers here.) With 58,000 submissions, 98% of them in favour of reform, the Government had no choice but to listen.

Then last week, the government released a literature review which debunks a lot of the myths about computer games and children. While those opposed to the change usually cite the dangers of violent video games and the concerns that it will harm children, the Government's research shows that these links are extremely tenuous at best. Furthermore, they noted that there doesn't seem to be a significant difference between playing a game and watching a movie.

Then yesterday, Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor released a statement detailing the Government's unequivocal support for change, and citing survey data showing that even 81% of Australians over 50 support an adults-only classification. It's clear, now, that the Commonwealth is actively pushing this reform. Given that, we're optimistic that the states will see fit to hop on board, especially given the data prepared by the Government to justify the change.

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