R18+ due by 1st January 2013

GameSpot is reporting that the new Federal Minister for Home Affairs is predicting an R18+ rating by next year.

Jason Clare indicated that he believes the bill will become legislation by 1st January 2013, after introducing the bill into parliament today.

It was initially unknown whether the previous Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor’s departure would stall the introduction of the new classification, however it appears that the cabinet reshuffle has not altered the trajectory or pace of the enthusiasm for its commencement.

While the R18+ rating has been a very long time coming, and is a welcome maturing of the Australian games industry in general, the new proposed guidelines do still indicate a greater intensity of impact amongst interactive mediums, a statement which remains baseless and could prove to be a problematic niggle down the line.

In November of last year, when the new guidelines were first proposed, the iGEA took the time to respond to the notion.

Ron Curry, CEO of the iGEA, noted: "There will be continued debate about whether the interactivity of video games has a greater impact than other forms of media, and we will continue to refer to the lack of the evidence to support these claims."

The battle rages on.

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