All nine Australian Attorneys-General now ready for an R18+ rating

A couple of weeks ago Australia finally made formative steps to introducing a long-awaited R18+ rating for video games, with eight of the country’s nine Attorneys-General agreeing in principle to go forward with the motion. The only holdout was New South Wales AG Greg Smith, who abstained from voting, citing the need to review material with his cabinet. On Wednesday, he joined the rest of the Attorneys-General in announcing his support for the scheme.

“Few people would dispute the value of a classification system that helps keep adult material beyond the reach of children,” said Smith in a statement given to ABC Technology.

He continued: “With strong classification guidelines in place, an R18+ rating should result in violent games currently rated MA15+ in Australia being reclassified as adults-only, as they already are in many other countries. ”

A shadow was cast over the issue when, shortly after the initial announcement, Jim Wallace, head of the Australian Christian Lobby and long-time opponent of the proposed legislation, received airtime when he blamed violent video games for the shootings in Norway on July 22. Thankfully, that didn’t factor in to the decision, and the legislation is likely to be in place before the end of the year.