Australian Opposition Leader Happy to Look at R18+ Rating

Australian politician Tony Abbot says that the lack of an adult rating for videogames is “silly.”

Abbot, the leader of the opposition party in Australia’s parliament said at a public forum in Sydney last night that he would be happy to look at an adult rating for videogames if his party came to power. Abbot’s comments were in response to a question asking whether the Liberal/National coalition had any policies regarding the issue.

Abbot said that he was personally unaware of the debate around the issue, but that it didn’t make sense for videogames to receive different treatment than other media. Abbot has said in the past that the classification system in Australia was broken and required further review, but whether this means it will be a priority for his party if it is elected is unclear.

With the departure of Michael Atkinson from the position of Attorney General for South Australia, resistance to the idea of a R18+ rating for games seems to be dwindling. With a general election coming in just a few days, and a meeting of attorney generals coming in November, perhaps we’ll start to see some movement on the issue – even just a tiny bit – before the end of the year.

Source: Kotaku Australia