Australia is the only developed country without an R18+ rating for games.
The Australian public's opinion was polled about the introduction of an R18+ rating for games and a subsequent report was prepared, however, the South-Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson refused to make it public, consequently rendering it null. Atkinson has long been opposed to any type of R18+ rating.
However, at a meeting held on Friday, November 7, 2008 of the Attorneys-General, the Australian censorship ministers agreed to push through a proposal introducing an R18+ rating for videogames. The finalized proposal shall be submitted to family groups as well as industry associations for their recommendations.
Rob Hulls, the Victorian Attorney General believes that an R18+ rating is needed for video games. He marks the inconsistency between restricting certain films with mature content by rating them R18+ but not attributing the same rating to computer games with the same level of mature content.
Some supporters of the R18+ rating amongst the Australian government do not understand why Australia has not yet adopted the rating and call upon the Senate and Parliament to address the issue.
Coverage at: GameDaily.com
