Australia – R18+ legislation passed by NSW

It's about to get a little more violent Down Under.

Australia is one step closer to the implementation of an R18+ rating for games as New South Wales (NSW) has joined Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in passing the necessary legislation. Since the legislation already passed at a federal level, all that’s needed now is for it to be passed by each state and territory so that it can be put into practice.

The new law will grant adults access to content labelled as inappropriate for younger gamers. However, the final guidelines, announced last week, may mean that some titles are still refused classification. Such games are effectively banned in Australia.

At present the highest rating available to games in Australia is MA15+. In recent years several games, such as The Witcher 2 and Left 4 Dead 2, have been edited to ensure a rating. Other games have simply not been released, depriving Australians of big titles such as Mortal Kombat, Syndicate, and, um... Singles: Flirt Up Your Life.

It now falls to the remaining six states and territories to complete the process of passing the R18+ legislation. The rating is expected to be available by January of 2013.

Staff article by David Owen (September 21, 2012) David Owen is a freelance writer who also contributes to VG247, Eurogamer, IGN, and others. He likes Gitaroo Man more than is healthy.