Government of Australia to reform rating system

[Cmdr Sheppard]

The entire problem with Australia is having a government run rating system. The US has an industry run rating system that is not enforceable and that works a thousand times better than Australia's "ban everything" system.

A wide-ranging shake-up of the Classification Act could be on the cards if there is no agreement to change the rating system for computer games.

Any change to the classification system needs unanimous support from the Commonwealth, states and territories.

The Federal Government has given state and territory attorneys-general until July to decide whether to introduce an R18+ classification for video games.

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor says after a decade of debate, it is crunch time.

"We're becoming the laughing stock of the developed world, where we're the only country that doesn't have an R18 classification level for video games.

"I foreshadow that if there is not a consensus around this issue, the Commonwealth will certainly be considering other options because we cannot continue to have an outdated classification system that's actually, in my view, causing harm to young people."

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/16/3165063.htm