The Aussie Angle: Will the federal government step up on R18+?

The R18+ issue has reached a stalemate. Yesterday, the NSW Attorney-General's Department made it known that Greg Smith would abstain from voting on R18+ for games at Friday's Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) meeting in Adelaide. This news came as a big blow to Australia's gaming community, which has been fighting for the right to access adult material since 2002. Many had hoped that this time would be the last that attorneys-general would be asked to vote on introducing R18+ for games; by all accounts, expectations were higher than they have ever been, with the majority of Australian states and territories voicing their public support of R18+ earlier this year. The local gaming industry was also certain that this time would be it, with industry heads speaking of "good feelings" and "quiet confidence".

However, outdated Australian laws have once again put an end to the gaming community's hopes for change.

As has been said many times before, any changes to the National Classification Code require the unanimous agreement of all federal, state and territory censorship ministers. That's nine different people with different ages, different political agendas, and different moral standards. Nine people who each have a different social conscience, different religious beliefs, and different intellectual and physical capabilities. On issues that are black and white--issues that involve the growth and stability of our nation--it may be reasonable to assume that nine different people can all come to the same conclusion. On issues that are less clear, however, is it really any surprise that Australia continues to remain one of the only Western countries without an adult classification for video games?

In March this year, Federal Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O'Connor voiced his confidence that the R18+ issue would be solved by this Friday's SCAG meeting. Failing that, he said, he would consider "other options" should the states and territories not come to a unanimous agreement.

"What I've outlined to the attorneys-general at the SCAG meeting in New Zealand is that the Commonwealth believes that these reforms are long overdue--they've been on the agenda for more than a decade," O'Connor told GameSpot in March. "It's time to resolve the matter through discussion and agreement. However, I said I would take advice about what else we can do if this does not happen."

It may be time for O'Connor to break out his other strategies. Come this Friday, the entire Australian gaming community will be looking to the federal government with the same question burning on their lips: "How are you going to get us out of this mess?"

By now, it's clear that O'Connor is dedicated to the issue; his passion towards its resolution by the week's end has not gone unnoticed by those who have spent years lobbying the federal government for some kind of response. When O'Connor announced the federal government's public support for R18+ for games in December last year, many saw it as a big step forward. O'Connor has kept true to his word over the past six months, continuing his ongoing campaign to try to get the other eight states and territories to agree to the set of preliminary R18+ guidelines that were drafted at the start of the year.

However, it seems that no amount of lobbying or public consultation can get around the problem of nine different individuals agreeing on an issue that many deem trivial. So, does O'Connor have what it takes to put into practice those "other options" he's been working on? Will the federal government take charge to find a way around Australia's outdated classification laws and reward Australian adults with the right to choose?

Let's hope so. Let's hope that all of our work in this area, from the gaming community to the gaming industry to the gaming media, has not been in vain.

GameSpot AU will be reporting live from the SCAG meeting this Friday.