IGEA statement on the council of Attorneys-General’s agreement to review the classification guidelines

The Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA) welcomes the 28 June 2019 agreement by the Council of Attorneys-General for the Australian Government to develop new Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games and Guidelines for the Classification of Films and, if necessary, to amend the National Classification Code.

“IGEA believes in a National Classification Scheme that is modern, efficient and meets the needs of the community, particularly parents and guardians”, said Ron Curry, the CEO of IGEA. “The current Classification Guidelines and Code still largely reflects where Australia’s industry and society was in 1995 and are in urgent need for review. We believe parts of the Guidelines and the Code no longer reflect contemporary Australian community standards for how content should be classified in 2019”.

Curry also said that while he noted the review appeared to be focussed on the Guidelines and the Code at this stage, he hoped that the process would be the start to a broader process of overhauling the National Classification Scheme, including looking at outdated Commonwealth and State and Territory legislation that may no longer be working effectively.

“We have worked closely with the Australian Government over many years to deliver progressive improvements to the National Classification Scheme, including the successful introduction of the R18+ classification category for video games and the implementation of the IARC Classification Tool for online and mobile games”, said Curry. “However, we have also been waiting for broader reforms ever since the Australian Law Reform Commission looked at the Scheme back in 2012. We are encouraged by the upcoming review and look forward to participating in the public consultation process”.