R18+: No news is ... no news.

It's the update that isn't, unfortunately: No decision on the R18+ rating for games will be made today.

The gaming and tech community has been on tenterhooks all afternoon waiting to hear whether the Attorneys General would finally introduce a long-awaited and long-overdue R18+ rating for games following their meeting today. The government's in favour. According to a number of polls, the public is in favour. And we are definitely in favour.

But it seems some people aren't quite sure yet. Brendan O'Connor, the Minister for Home Affairs, has just held a very brief press conference to announce that after a day of presentations and discussion, no decision will be reached today. The sticking point seems to be the WA Attorney General wanting to consult with cabinet before making a decision. The Attorneys General also want more information on how the R18+ rating would affect what we already have. It looks like the issue did go to a vote, but the decision was not unanimous - which it needs to be for the rating to be introduced.

O'Connor said the issue was moving forward, despite the decision (or lack thereof). The Attorneys General meet again early in the new year, and this will be brought up again then, with a study on new gaming classifcation guidelines hopefully completed in the meantime.

For now? We wait. And we lobby. Sensibly - going off the deep end might be tempting, but it's not going to help convince anyone that gamers are ready to be treated like the adults that we are.

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17 Comments

sirtrancealot Dec 10, 2010 4:58 PM	98% in favour in 70k worth of public submissions, this should be a no brainer.. even for those with no brains.. hmmmm braiiiiiinns...
codecreeper Dec 10, 2010 5:18 PM	Its just the Western Australia AG which is holding things up now. He said before the meeting he would strongly oppose the new rating.
GRiMEY Dec 10, 2010 5:24 PM	It doesn't seem to be the WA AG that is the problem, Brendan O'Connor was pretty specific on that when talking to Kotaku before. The important thing to keep in mind is that while this does indeed suck, and continues to make playing Left 4 Dead 2 a pain in the arse, it is the most positive meeting so far. They are working towards the change, we now just have to wait until March and hope that newly elected State AGs decide not to play politics with the issue again. My main worry is if they want to redefine the MA15+ and RC classifications. There is a very real chance that this will mean banned games are still banned, but a large chunk of MA15+ ones will shift to R18+. That is really the worst case scenario.
Trekker Dec 10, 2010 6:22 PM	i think i might vote for the dog next door.. he cares more than everyone else
fredzfrog Dec 10, 2010 6:39 PM	Sounds like GRiMEY needs a friend in the usa.. Or canada.. Canadians are fun :)
Redhatter Dec 10, 2010 6:41 PM	Well, to be honest a lot of MA15+ games were never truly MA15+ but should have been R18+ from the start. They were only bumped down a level to make them "saleable" in this country. On that basis, I think while the progress is slow, it is progress, and it can't make things much worse than they are now.
cyb3rspy Dec 10, 2010 7:15 PM	Ummm i just read that it's a NO to R18+. Can someone else confirm this too.
cyb3rspy Dec 10, 2010 7:15 PM	he's the link I saw, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/r18-adult-rating-for-pc-games-rejected/story-e6frgakx-1225969108337
sirtrancealot Dec 10, 2010 8:41 PM	those guys from the acl are real asshats, if they were in touch with people instead of gated off in their religious bubbles they would realise that even gamers want this changed, so that violence in games doesn't get paired with retarded gameplay/story aimed at younger crowds, they want good engaging complex adult story. bajo really called it well on the 7pm project the other night, we want games that aren't condescending, developed specifically for the older crowd. and an R18 rating does exactly that. leave the kids games for the kids and classify them accordingly. they just have a personal vendetta against the industry because they're stuck in the 20th century. and i don't usually condone violence of anykind, but a think a reality check bitch slap is in order
sirikan Dec 10, 2010 9:25 PM	Lets try and guess what this guy's email address is so we can pester him personally. I know senators sometimes have email addresses like senator.lastname@aph.gov.au. Since this guy is a minister i would guess minister.something@aph.gov.au. I tried minister.oconnor@aph.gov.au with no luck. arsehat.oconnor@aph.gov.au doesn't work either. The mail server aph.gov.au is also nice enough to let you know when you guess wrong too.
sirikan Dec 10, 2010 9:57 PM	I think it is brendan.oconnor.MP@aph.gov.au. So anyone else who wants to tell him how wonderful we think he is go nuts.
Dread Emperor Dec 11, 2010 12:02 AM	The WA AG website has a feedback form, on their website: http://www.dotag.wa.gov.au/_apps/contacts/contactForm.aspx?page=contactForm&departmentId=1
Dread Emperor Dec 11, 2010 12:11 AM	Btw, the WA AG's email address is Minister.Porter@dpc.wa.gov.au
HighFlyer Dec 11, 2010 12:49 AM	@sirikan Why would you want to tell Brendan O'Connor he is an asshat? He is actually on our side. It is (according to The Australian) The WA and SA AG's that are "appearing unsympathetic" to the vote. This is ridiculous, I mean really, at this point we need to be looking at the political system as a whole and petition for changes to the law that prevent this sort of backwards thinking. The country should not be held to ransom by one or two people possibly swayed by lobbyists. This is not a democracy, it's a joke.
jdog Dec 11, 2010 11:47 AM	shame...i was hoping this would go through! well i wonder how many letters the WA and SA AG's will get... i wonder if they will get booted next election...
codecreeper Dec 12, 2010 12:43 PM	I don't think the SA AG was against it. The SA AG was for it as he believed it should be implemented.
boltronics Dec 14, 2010 8:33 PM	I don't care any more. And why should I? I don't work in the Australian video game industry.... and it's not like it's hard to import games from overseas... who hasn't brought games from eBay? There's plenty of tutorials floating around on buying the cheaper uncensored games from online stores such as Steam in the US or UK too. HighFlyer's correct – we're not a real democracy. Fortunately technology allows many of us to work around lots of the problems our foolish government has created. I feel sorry for the Australian video game outlets and developer houses that this will hurt though.

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Issue: 137 | June, 2012

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