The Australian Government has announced that a new Classification Amendment Bill has passed through Parliament, achieving a new milestone in ongoing efforts to reform the National Classification Scheme and make it more fit-for-purpose in the age of modern media, which will have an especially big impact when it comes to video games.
CLASSIFICATION (PUBLICATIONS, FILMS AND COMPUTER GAMES) AMENDMENT (INDUSTRY SELF-CLASSIFICATION AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2023
The Classification Amendment Bill aims to refresh and update the National Classification Scheme by doing the following (as per the official release):
- expanding options for industry to self-classify content including film and computer games using either in-house or third-party classifiers who have been trained and accredited by the Australian Government
- extending the Classification Board’s powers to quality assure self-classification decisions
- expanding classification exemptions to include low-risk cultural content made available by libraries and museums
- introducing a ‘classify once’ principle so content classified for broadcast can be shown in other formats using the same classification.
These changes are set to come into effect starting early next year, and should make it easier and more efficient for classifiers to deal with the growing volume of content across various media and make decisions more quickly.
This new bill also comes alongside the continuing work to implement mandatory classifications on gambling and gambling-like video game content, which we reported on earlier in the year and you can read about here.
The Australian Government says that a public consultation is expected to kick off later this year which will focus on the second stage of these reforms, further shaping the National Classification Scheme and ensuring it’s agile, fit-for-purpose and meets the needs of both the community and creators.
“As consumption of media changes in Australia, we need to ensure our classification scheme keeps evolving to meet new needs – enabling Australians to make informed choices about what they, and those in their care, watch, read and play,” said the Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP.
“Further to the important reforms achieved in this Bill, the Albanese Government will continue to work with industry, and state and territory governments on further improvements to ensure the Classification system remains a trusted source of information for the Australian community.”
