No real surprise: the preliminary results of December's public solicitation over an R18+ classification for video games have started to come in; overwhelmingly, the public is in favour of introducing one. Last year the Minister for Home Affairs released the long-awaited discussion paper and gave Australian citizens and lobbyist groups the chance to voice their opinions on implementing a classification for games higher than the existing age-15 limit we have today. Even in February it was clear that the results would be firmly in the for-camp and although final numbers haven't been tabulated yet, so far only a small percentage of Australian citizens oppose the measure.
The federal government received almost 60k submissions during the period in which public consultation was open. Groups were able to submit their opinions as well, though obviously the numbers for this were not quite so staggering: the Australian Christian Lobby and the Australian Council on Children and the Media opposed the rating, while industry groups like the iGEA were in favour of it. So far 53% of groups support the classification while 47% oppose it.
South Australia Attorney-General Michael Atkinson has consistently been the hold-out in getting such a classification implemented, employing ridiculous rhetoric to shoot down criticism of the way he was hijacking the legislative process. After the March elections he stepped down from his post when his party performed poorly in the polls; his replacement, while not coming out 100% in favour of implementing an R18+ rating, has at least stated that he's open minded to it and wants to review the discussion paper. South Australia is a state that has its equivalent to something like Arkansas or Mississippi in the United States, so such a statement is likely the best we can hope for from the elected officials they put in power.
98 Percent Of Australians Support R18+ Rating [via Gamasutra]
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