An R18+ Rating for Video Games

I’m sending my submission today – apart from the questionnaire you can put a statement in there of 250 words or less, here’s what I wrote

I contend, as a parent of young children and someone who has played video games for many years. We need an R18+ rating in Australia.

Adults should be allowed to read, see and hear what they wish.

The argument that R18+ games would somehow end up in the hands of children is completely facile, no matter how hard you try, you cannot regulate against bad parenting and you shouldn’t be penalising the majority of good, responsible parents.

I have several MA15+ games in my collection and there is no way that my kids would ever get to play them, let alone see them in action, just the same as they wouldn’t be allowed to watch adult television or an M rated DVD.

Current consoles also have parental lock-outs on the system, giving you an extra layer of protection when kids get older and craftier.
Finally I wish to address the fact that any change to the classification system requires the agreement of all the attorney-generals in Australia, might I point out that individual states have the ability to further regulate these classifications and they already do.

If you wish to purchase an X18+ rated movie, you can only do so from the ACT or NT, the classification itself is legal, but individual states have barred it from sale.

Individual states that have misgivings about R18+ games could restrict their sale in their own state whilst leaving the other states to decide for themselves.

You might think I’m a bit keen to be going to the trouble to actually put something in writing to the government but currently the wowsers in this country have the censors by the short and curlies (not just in games either but TV has gone backwards from when I was a kid) and they’ll keep making things in this country worse unless the silent majority actually stand up and make their opinions known.

You can download the submission template in PDF or Word format at the following website:

www.ag.gov.au/gamesclassification