Aussie federal dept. behind R18+ push gets new minister

Former Federal Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O'Connor, a public supporter of R18+ for games, was today renamed minister for Human Services and minister assisting the School Education in a federal government ministerial reshuffle.

Member for Blaxland and former Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare was named the new federal minister for Home Affairs and will inherit O'Connor's portfolio, including the issue of R18+ for games.

O'Connor first announced federal government support for R18+ for games in December last year, before another vote on the issue was postponed at the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General meeting on December 10, 2010.

Earlier this year, O'Connor publicly released the draft guidelines on R18+ and hinted at seeking other options should state and territory censorship ministers fail to reach consensus on the issue.

In July this year, Australia's federal, state, and territory censorship ministers reached an in-principle agreement to introduce an R18+ classification for video games in Australia.

This agreement was made on the basis that all states and territories approve a set of proposed guidelines to introduce the new classification. Last month, O'Connor publicly released the final guidelines on R18+ for games, at the same time clarifying his plans to introduce the R18+ legislation in the February 2012 parliament session.

The R18+ for games issue has been on the Australian government agenda since 2002.

GameSpot AU has contacted the new federal minister for Home Affairs, Jason Clare, about his plans regarding R18+ and will update this story as news comes to hand.