Australia is one of the few Western countries that do not have an R-rating for video games. What that effectively meant was that some games were shoe-horned into an MA-15 rating, and those that cannot be shoe-horned get banned because there was no higher rating to classify the games with.

There has been debates in the past and a change in the law, which required all six state attorney-generals to approve, was consistently held back by South Australia’s previous attorney-general, Michael Atkinson. However, his successor John Rau is more open to the idea and this issue is now back on the agenda for the next meeting of the attorneys general.

New South Australian Attorney-General Supports R18+ Rating | Kotaku Australia.

But now there’s a new spanner in the works – new Victoria attorney-general Robert Clark. This despite the Federal Government’s determination to fix this.

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor has told the states and territories that the July meeting of attorneys-general is D-Day for a decision on the reform, which has sat on their agenda for almost a decade. The reform will create an R18+ category for games, providing, Mr O’Connor says, adult gamers with more choice and better parental advice about the suitability of games.

This was Robert Clark’s statement about the proposed changes.

‘‘[This] needs careful scrutiny and public debate,’’ he said. ‘‘The Coalition government is very concerned that the draft guidelines currently being proposed by the Commonwealth would legalise games with high levels of graphic, frequent and gratuitous violence, including violence against civilians and police.’’

Video games reform rebuffed over violence fears – Sydney Morning Herald

So the idea is that video games, because they allow players to be immersed in the story and violence is more detrimental than movies. I can think of more than a few handful of movies that have high levels of graphic, frequent and gratuitious violence against civilians and police. And I laughed at the absurdity of it – violent movies are ok, but violent games are not, even if they are rated correctly (R-18+ it already!), and their sales restricted to adults. That’s basically the gist of it.

Surely the parents and the Christian right and the parties and organisations that claim to represent them (Australian Christian Lobby, Family First), those who oppose this can see the hypocrisy of it. And parents, not government, should play a bigger part in restricting their kids to violent content of any form. You don’t want your kids exposed to violent games and that is most sensible. But I’m not your kid and I’m not a child anymore.

That said though, all of this is kinda moot thanks to the fact that we can buy any of these games, banned or not, from the Internet. Check out this listing on ebay for the most recently banned game in Australia, Mortal Kombat:

mortal kombat xbox360, Video Games, Toys, Hobbies, Art items at low prices on eBay.com.au.

Another potential workaround to all this nonsense is the Federal Government’s proposal for industrial self-regulation. Hurray!

With censors swamped, Canberra signals it’s time for self-regulation – Sydney Morning Herald

Oh, and this will give you an idea of why Mortal Kombat got banned from sale in Australia. Don’t watch if you are squemish.

Kinda remind you of any one of those torture-porn movies, like Saw and Hostel, doesn’t it? And those movies got rated a strong R-18+, they are equally gratuitous in violence and gore, and they are available to be watched by adults. Double standards, you say?

Anyway fellow gamers, I won’t worry about not getting a R-rating for video games so much. If they start making it illegal to buy the same games from overseas though, then I’ll get pissed.