Next Thursday and Friday is set to be two of the most important days of the past decade for Australian gamers, as the decision will be made once and for all if the country will receive the adults-only classification for video games. Aussie gamers across the country have campaigned long and hard for this classification.
It has been roughly 10 years since this topic was first discussed by members of the Australian government—ten years of dawdling and avoidance, with copious amounts of slander and misinformation being published by religious anti-gaming lobby groups and various conservative politicians. It has been a decade of various university studies arguing the case back and forth on whether the violence in interactive entertainment affects children in a way that it promotes violent thinking as they mature.
This decade has seen politicians use their power to halt progress, by going with their own self-serving policies in place of their constituent’s wishes. We’ve also witnessed the ordinary person take a stand, by leaving their jobs and running for Parliament, campaigning against the very people who would halt the progress of this important issue. The decade has even seen the formation of the first ever gamers political party, as well as some of the worst examples of reasoning, evidence (if you could even call it that), and levels of blatant ignorance in a debate.
Now the real reason for this post isn’t to give you a history lesson of this issue, but to inform you of something that you can do to help shape the outcome of the next Standing Committee of Attorney-Generals meeting, scheduled to be held in Adelaide, South Australia on July 21 and July 22.
There is currently a government issued public consultation, which consists of 29 questions relating to the classification review. The consultation asks questions such as:
* What should be the primary objectives of a national classification scheme?
* Should the potential impact of content affect whether it should be classified?
* Should content designed for children be classified across all media?
* Should the fact that content is accessed in public or at home affect whether it should be classified?
* And many more relating to the potential classification reform.
At the time of publishing this article, there are 17 hours left until submissions close. I ask all of our Australian readers to use this opportunity to make yourselves heard, and get what you want from the classification reform that has taken so long to achieve. If you have made your submission, awesome – if you haven’t, you can do so via the link at the bottom of this article.
As you could probably tell, I am very passionate about this subject. I believe it is not only a key component in protecting our children from material not suited for them, but is a fundamental liberty for Australian adults. This opinion is formed not as a games journalist. Not as someone who is in “the industry”. Not as someone with a “vested interest” in having an adults-only classification, as some of these lobby groups have said — but as an Australian gamer, and more importantly, an adult who dislikes the idea of being told what they can and cannot view, with legislation and guidelines based on the agendas and self-serving opinions from select group of out-of-touch individuals.
I know that less than 24 hours seems like very little could be achieved. However, helping spread the word by doing whatever you can increase those chances of success by a substantial margin. Tweeting it, posting it on Facebook, blogging about it makes a world of difference, and it helps people become aware of this public consultation that seems to have slipped under the radar to the vast majority.
For our Australian readers, submissions for this consultation close at 5 p.m. Australian Eastern Time.
http://www.alrc.gov.au/content/classification-online-submission