Australian Catholic Bishops support R18+ rating

The quest for an Australian R18+ rating for videogames has just taken an interesting turn. The Standing Committee of Attorneys General have agreed to release a status report following the public consultation on the matter, and while the results are overwhelmingly for the introduction of an adult classification, support is coming from strange places.

...such as a group of Australian Catholic Bishops.

The Australian Catholic Bishops (ACB) state that their preferred position is that R 18+ material would not be available in Australia. However, as material is currently available despite its illegality, it would be preferable to introduce an R18+ classification category for computer games so that access to such material, particularly by children, can be restricted.

While you digest that, I'll explain where it came from.

The Standing Committee of Attorneys General (SCAG) held a meeting today to discuss a number of issues - including R18+ games - but as the Northern Territory AG, Delia Lawrie was unable to attend, no outright decisions could be made. They did, however, move to release this 'preliminary' status report, explaining that the Attorney General's Department are still processing submissions as well as identifying and removing duplicates - so we're not quite there yet, but much closer than we were six months ago.

Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor explains:

“It is not just the weight of numbers that need to be considered. It is also the strength of the arguments on each side. That is why Ministers today agreed that further work needs to be done before a decision can be made.

“This issue is of considerable interest to Australians so the Government is releasing a status report on the consultation to ensure the community is kept well informed of its progress.”

The report shows the initial outcomes of the nearly 60,000 submissions from all across Australia, including 34 "community, church and industry groups".

Other than the aforementioned Bishops, most of the groups who support an R18+ decision are unsurprising: Electronic Frontiers Australia and AusGamers (a discussion paper I was involved with), PALGN and Everyone Plays, Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, Telstra, Civil Liberties Australia and two gaming clans.

We're still a little gobsmacked by the bishops' decision though, and we're still reading through the rest of the report (which is now available online) - but good on you, ACB. Gamers around the country thank you for your support.

5 Responses to “Australian Catholic Bishops support R18+ rating”

1. Tweets that mention Australian Catholic Bishops support R18+ rating « GamePron -- Topsy.com says:

   May 7, 2010 at 4:39 am

   [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by elroy, Michael Keating, Miss J Citizen, Tim Campbell, Kingsley Foreman and others. Kingsley Foreman said: RT @GamePron: GamePron: Australian Catholic Bishops support R18+ game rating http://bit.ly/cVCMmr [...]

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2. Tweets that mention Australian Catholic Bishops support R18+ rating -- Topsy.com says:

   May 7, 2010 at 5:25 pm

   [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mark Newton, CameronWatt, CameronWatt, Will Briggs, Daniel Tullemans and others. Daniel Tullemans said: RT @Punkley: Australian Catholic Bishops support R18+ rating http://bit.ly/d8Hh1q #r18au [...]

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3. AU R18+ Rating Plans Put On Hold Due To “Interest Groups” | JetLib News says:

   May 12, 2010 at 12:43 am

   [...] AU R18+ Rating Plans Put On Hold Due To “Interest Groups” May 12th, 2010 05:16 admin Leave a comment Go to comments Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.Powered by WP Greet Box WordPress PluginDexter Herbivore writes “Australian gamers are yet again left disappointed by their government’s response to a lack of an R18+ rating for games. Gamespot reports that Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor has blamed ‘interest groups’ for swamping the public consultation with pro-R18+ submissions. From the article: ‘A strong response from gamer groups in the Australian Federal Government’s R18+ public consultation has led Censorship Ministers to claim that more views from the community are needed before a decision into the introduction of an R18+ classification for video games can be reached.’” Reader UgLyPuNk adds that support for the new rating is coming from unexpected places. [...]

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4. Australian R18+ games rating gets govt support « GamePron says:

   December 4, 2010 at 7:45 pm

   [...] A survey of the Australian public held this time last year came back with a resounding 98% in favour of an adult classification. The Attorneys-General felt the survey had been overwhelmed by gamers (who had a vested interest in the outcome), and asked for the “silent majority” to reply. It’s interesting to note that of that 98%, a group of Australian Catholic Bishops supported the ratings change. [...]

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5. Australian R18+ Rating: Not yet… « GamePron says:

   December 9, 2010 at 9:21 pm

   [...] Government released a discussion paper and called for responses. In May, we were told about the reaction to that paper, which saw a significant majority of the Australian public supporting an adult rating (including [...]

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Article Details

• published: May 6, 2010
• by: Jessica Citizen
• in: AusGamers, Australia, Australian Catholic Bishops, Australian R18+ Debate, Electronic Frontiers Australia, Politics, Refused Classification
• comments: 5

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I like video games and music and cups of tea and noodles and beagles and colour-cycling LEDs.
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