With today's meeting of Standing Committee of Attorneys-General at a close, we were greeted by the unfortunate news that the Attorneys-General had failed to reach a unanimous decision due to the NSW minister abstaining from the vote. Now the official press-conference is currently underway and Federal Minister Brendan O'Connor has confirmed that the introduction of an R18+ will be proceeding at a National level.
O'Connor confirmed that there had been an "in principle" agreement and that "we can move forward to introduce R18+ now", stating that the proposed R18+ classification guidelines are good to go. O'Connor has stated that amendments on R18+ guidelines will need to be considered by the respective cabinets and individual states and territories will be able to reach their own decision to implement the rating.
South Australian Attorney-General John Rau was delighted by today's decision and stated that he was behind the move from the start. Rau also stated not to blame former state Attorney-General Michael Atkinson, who has previously been criticised by gamers for stalling the classification's introduction in the past.
Speaking to GameSpot, Rau has confirmed that SA will abolish the MA15+ classification for videogames and that all games currently under such classification will be "stickered" with new R18+ labels.
O'Connor hopes that the introduction of the new classification will arrive within "months". O'Connor confirms that content such as sexual violence will still be prohibited. The topic will not be discussed at any future SCAG meetings.
everything i write is a ramble and should not be taken seriously.... seriously. ♥
