Speaking to students at the University of Ballarat, Brendan O’Connor claimed that introducing an R18+ rating for video games in Australia would help maintain the growth of the video games industry in our country.
“An adult classification for video games will provide better guidance for parents and remove unsuitable material from children and teenagers,” claimed O’Connor.
“It will also create further opportunities for Australian computer game developers, distributors and retailers – and that’s a great thing for students studying at the University of Ballarat.
“Australia’s local game design industry boasts more than 50 companies and over 200 game titles and it is growing strongly along with the international demand for new games,” he continued.
“We want to create opportunities for our young people in diverse parts of the economy. The games industry is an increasingly important part of our creative economy that we should support.”
While we do spend a fair amount of time fending off the argument that video game publishers want an R18+ rating for commercial reasons, we do appreciate the sentiment – even if we’re not quite sure it’ll make that much of a difference.
Despite some rumblings from Victorian Attorney-General Robert Clark, Brendan O’Connor re-affirmed his belief that we would have a final decision on R18+ this July.
“When making their decision,” said O’Connor. “I urge State and Territory governments to consider the value of the computer gaming industry to Australia’s economy, as well as the need to provide better guidance for parents and greater protection for young game players.”
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