The Minister for Home Affairs, Brendan O’Connor, is continuing the push for an R18+ computer game classification with his recent comments which could open the way for games containing extreme interactive violence and sex to be more readily available in Australia.
Currently these types of games are Refused Classification but, as the Minister has admitted, some have been wrongly classified and allowed into the MA15+ category.
Commercial gaming interests are pushing for the ban on R18+ to be lifted and Mr O’Connor wants this to occur when Censorship Ministers meet at the SCAG (Standing Committee of Attorneys General) in July.
ACL believes it would be counterproductive for SCAG to pre-empt the review of the broken National Classification Scheme which Mr O’Connor and the Attorney General, Robert McClelland, announced before Christmas.
ACL does not accept the argument that introducing an R18+ category for games would protect children as it would be naive to think that children would not get a hold of them.
All of the State and Territory Children’s Commissioners told a Government inquiry last year that the ban on an R18+ classification should remain.
ends
Please do not allow the lifting of the ban on R18+ category of games. It is not in the best interests of Australians, and definitely not in the best interests of children, who could easily be exposed to this material. It is not possible to protect children from this sort of material, once it is in the wider community.
All of the State and Territory Children’s Commissioners have requested that the ban remain in place, because of the : a) increase risk of exposure by children to explicit material, including domestic violence and illicit drugs; b)possible negative impact of exposre to R18+ material; and c)difficulties parents and guardians have in monitoring and controlling exposure to such games.
“Commercial gaming interests” are pushing for the ban to be lifted – this is simply so they can make more money, they are not interested in the effects this material will have on people.
We live in an increasingly violent world, which has little respect for women (and let’s face it, R-rated material is mostly belittling to women). Increasing availablitly to violent and sexually explicit material will only make people less sensitive to these issues.
Well said Andrea!
The push for ‘raising’ the classification to include R18+,as I heard a radio spot define it, comes from selfish adults who need more variety in their explorations into depravity.The TRUTH is that it’s ‘lowering’ the standards but it doesn’t surprise me when I hear some reporters seemingly supporting this classification, since it will make it easier to get a hold of material which isn’t allowed on our shores legally.
God has given them over to their own futile minds, but we must never stop defending childrens minds from filth/violence/porn, which is what will drive profits up for a few business owners, but at what cost to the rest of us?Well done ACl for Taking a Stand, keep up the good fight!
Henry
Just by having an R18+ category wouldn’t automatically make it easier for a child to access it. Currently it is not easy for a child to gain access to R18+ movies, books or tobacco because it’s illegal for such products to be sold to a minor and parents and guardians would be more mindful of what they are buying for their child. For example your in a game store and your child who is aged 16 asks you to buy a game rated MA15+ under the current ratings but would be rated R18+ if we had that category, you would be more likely to buy it if was MA15+ rated than if it was R18+ rated.
Also even if R18+ rating is put into place game that are really bad would still be Refused Classification.
I am a 25 year old Christian and I support introducing the R18+ classification as I believe it will create greater awareness in parents as to what is contained in games. Not having a rating system that matches that of music and film media must inevitably create flawed impressions as to the content of games.
Unfortunately, not having an R18+ rating across all forms of media is hurting the nation and putting the kids at more risk than not.
How you ask? Well, let us look at what happens. Violent game gets knocked back, gets redone and passes as M15+. All ok? Not so. MW2 for instance. There is a mission that you kill innocent civilians, and this got through as OK. So, we now say it is OK to expose our kids to this ‘simulation’(nto my choice of term, but its the emotive word of choice for many).
Now that happens more and more than many thing. Also, look at the fastest growing gaming platforms today. Mobile phones. Are they all rated? Are parents even aware that this is also a gaming platform now (thanks Apple)? Are these games even rated?
So instead of trying to block this change, perhaps certain interest groups who want to protect the kids should be pushing for broader change. Such as an industry driven standard of self rating. The US has it, the UK has it. it works really well there. The premise being much the same as TV (which here is self rated along guidelines of course). Dont agree with the rating? Complain, gets investigated, company gets punished for putting kids at risk.
Of course the Australian Christian Lobby would delete my comment that did not have any cussing and threats.I was using free speech about how violent juvenile crime dropped alot in the US ever since the early 90s when the 1st very violent games were available, and how they should spend that time helping abused children rather then violate people’s rights to play a game.And the harshest word I use for some church groups is phony because what else is there to describe them when they are spending this time wanting games banned when there are way worse situations out there.This group that deletes that simple comment of truth is the kind of group trying to violate rights over video games.
I am a gamer, and I have run a Computer gaming Lan for the Last 10 years. So I have an informed opinion on Gaming.
If you release R rated games they will end up in the hands of children. Period. Nearly every under age kid that i’ve seen has access to anything/everything they’re not supposed to. Ranging from pirated music, movies and Games, Porn, anything.
I am of the opinion that all games should stay rated less than R. The truth is if any one wanted to ‘add’ that stuff, or mod games to make them R rated they can.
If they want all the characters to be naked they can do it. If they want to take off the ‘blurry’ (sensored) bits in Sims they can. So if the adults want it, someone will do/make it, and those that want it can get it.
If game producing companies stuck to a regulation of M/M+ you can seriously get everything that you ‘need’ for realism out of that. If you introduce R rated what will be unleashed will be insane. It’s not just nudity or Gore, now you’re talking sexual fetish, Rape and anything else the mind can imagine, in 3D in the hands of Kids. Some stuff should stay underground for the minority, not made freely available and become mainstream through lack of control.
I do worry about the classification of some games though. The soon to be released Duke nukem has ALL kinds of dodgey stuff in it. How that’s going to pass I don’t know. Then games like Left for dead 2, gets banned?? Which plays the same as the first, which to me was fine.
So the system is not perfect. I think if the adults have problems with their “freedom”, they should just walk away from their computer go and do it for real instead, and keep it out of the kids hands. And if they adults can’t legally or morally go and do what they want in real life, then maybe there’s a good reason why.
Flame on
Nicky
I’m writing this because the main article seems quite biased and contains errors of fact.
1) R18+ for gaming has NEVER been banned.
An R18+ rating was not even considered at the time of computer game rating implementation because computer game content was expected to remain in the domain of child and teen entertainment.
2) The framework for an R18+ rating for games DOES NOT indluce pornography.
The gaming rating framework is designed differently to other forms of media ratings. The requirements for movies and games to be classified for the R18+ rating are different.
On a side note, I would like to point out that the RC will always be there for media that does not fall within the current framework of the australian classification system.
Lastly, my personal stance on the introduction of an R18+ rating for computer games in Australia.
It is a fact that at least one game being introduced in Australia has been refused classification and, with no change to the game content, been re-evaluated to MA15+ upon the seller’s refusal to censor it.
The classification board is under a lot of pressure from external entities, and I believe that their job is very difficult to do within the current framework. In my opinion, a complete overhaul of the game rating framework, along with the introduction of an R18+ classification is required. Games that are currently being rated MA15+ will be given the new, and far more appropriate, R18+ rating. This will allow the purchaser to make a much more informed decision.
There are pros and cons to an R18+ rating. I believe the pros far outweigh the cons.
The fact that games are being incorrectly classified as MA instead of R does not support the introduction of the R rating. It simply means that the current classification process is wrong, and such games should be refused classification instead of being classified as MA.
People in favour of an R rating should be arguing that the content of such games is not harmful for children or society, or they should argue that it is not the government’s responsibility to protect children from excessive violence in games, or they should argue that the pros of the greater variety of games available to adult gamers outweighs the cons of children being exposed to such games. Some of these arguments may be valid.
But you cannot argue that the introduction of the R rating would protect children. Such claims are ridiculous and not true.
The most effective way to minimise childrens exposure to extreme violence in games is to:
1. Stop classifying R-deserving games as MA, and refuse them classification instead. Also refuse classification of games that have already been classified as MA that should have been classified as R.
2. Do not introduce the R rating.
@Andrew – But supporters of an R18+ rating do claim those things as well! (except that the content is not harmful to children. If we believed that we’d want all ratings scrapped, not new ones created)
Nevertheless, one of the primary reasons i support an R18+ rating for games remains that it would reduce access children have to content they shouldn’t by clarifying the content of the games they play and their parents buy them. Though an R18+ rating would let in some content that has been rejected, i don’t think anyone is in a position to say that it could never possibly be content that’s worthwhile in some manner to the appropriate audience, unless of course, you are against mature ideas being expressed in entertainment or art in general, which is your right to hold to. But more than this, ratings exist not to proliferate content but to classify, to order and to increase public awareness of the nature of existing content.
I’m also a fan of a move towards a more unified ratings system, so people know what the content in media they access is like more easily and more clearly. Now i certainly wouldn’t argue that the Australian ratings system is perfect, far from it. Its pretty all over the place. And I think we need to re-think content advisory for literature and television as well.
But a much needed first step is for the ratings system for interactive entertainment to be brought into line with that applied to films. It just makes sense. If, as it seems, many of you would prefer all R18+ material and ratings were scrapped, across all media in Australia, then that’s a legitimate view that you’re entitled to hold. But saying there should be no R18+ rating for games but there should for film doesn’t make a lot of sense. Unless, we are still operating under mistaken assumptions about interactive entertainment, such as the assumption that video games are intended primarily for children, or teenagers, which is simply not true in Australia today.
The reality is that piracy and unfiltered internet provides instant access to far worse content than would ever be permitted in rated media. That may be an entirely different issue, but nevertheless it means that ultimately parents must take responsibility for their own kids and what content they access. And an R18+ rating could only be a help not a hindrance in this respect.
As a Christian, i’m convinced that the wisest course of action in this situation is to support an R18+ rating for video games. It doesn’t fix all the problems but it is a good step in a good direction. A direction that will lead to greater clarity in the community about the content of the media we access and allow our kids access to.
The problem with an R18+ rating is not with careful parents who watch what games their children play and what they are exposed to, but rather with those children who don’t have such careful parents – whose parents are too busy or, in some cases, too careless to watch. The problem is that this explicit and dangerous material will be allowed in Australia. And it is indeed naive to believe that some (or many) children won’t be exposed to it. What children know is banned for them causes many to want to see and experience.
It is not in a good home that the damage will be done, but at a party, or stay over where there isn’t sufficient supervision, where some child from another home again, will lend the material.
The psychological impact of interactive games can’t be overstated; where a child chooses to perform some act as he/she plays the game. Their minds are not fully formed, and the damage done can be horrendous.
The only way to keep children safe, and not have even worse destructive behaviour in our society than is already there is to ban all such material from being available at all.
All of this stuff (rape, fetishes, and gore) is already in games, and guess what, the R18+ classification hasn’t been introduced. All of you seem to think that this stuff will flood the market as soon as it’s passed, but on average only 2-3 games are refused classification every year, and these games don’t even make to the shelf.