Australia’s Attorneys-General have agreed to an in-principle R-18+ rating for video games in Australia. The move has been welcomed by the video games industry following years of lobbying for the implementation of a mature rating.

 

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor announced that the Standing Committee of Attorneys General (SCAG) had reached an in-principle agreement to introduce the rating classification, the agreement represents the first move towards introducing such a rating into law.

 

The move to introduce the rating has been long debated, with the many Government lawmakers believing that the interactivity of video games made violent tendencies more pronounced in people.

 

Eight of the nine of the country’s Attorneys-General agreed to the agreement, with New South Wales Attorney-General Greg Smith abstaining from the vote to consider the issue out of session.

 

The decision to consider the new classification comes after the Federal Government commissioned a survey last year that found that of the 2,226 respondents interviewed, 91 per cent of adults supported an R-18+ rating.