Web links and documents
The Australian Government's Attorney General's Department issued a discussion paper titled Should the Australian National Classification Scheme Include an R18+ Classification Category for Computer Games? on December 9, 2009. The full text of this paper can be found at http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/rwpattach.nsf/VAP/%283273BD3F76A7A5DEDAE36942A54D7D90%29~Discussion+Paper+-+computer+games+-+R+18plus+classification+category.pdf/$file/Discussion+Paper+-+computer+games+-+R+18plus+classification+category.pdf)The discussion paper, calling for public submissions, includes detailed background information on the issue and a range of arguments for and against.
The Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (iGEA) is an industry association representing Australian and New Zealand companies in the computer and video game industry. It members publish, market and/or distribute interactive games and entertainment content.
iGEA has strongly supported the introduction of an R18+ classification for video games played in Australia. Its Internet page includes news items relevant to this issue and opinion pieces supporting the R18+ classification. The Internet site is available at http://www.igea.net/
A list of click-throughs to iGEA material relevant to this issue can be found at http://www.igea.net/?s=R18%2B
The Interactive Games and Entertainment Association commissioned a study into the nature and extent of video gaming in Australia, including an attempt to answer such questions as who plays, what they play, for how long and how often. The research was conducted by Professor Jeffrey Brand and a research team from Bond University.
It is titled, 'Case Study: Australia's Computer Games Audience and Restrictive Ratings System' The full text of the report can be found at http://www.idate.fr/2009/pages/download.php?id=&fic=CS73_BRAND_et_al.pdf&repertoire=fiche_etude/CS73
On Line Opinion is an Australian e-journal of social and political debate.
On February 16, 2010 it published an opinion piece by Barbara Biggins titled, 'Do we really need R18+ computer games?'
Barbara Biggins is the Honorary CEO of Australian Council on Children and the Media. The ACCM is a not-for-profit national community organisation set up to support families, industry and decision makers in building and maintaining a media environment that fosters the health, safety and wellbeing of Australian children. Biggins also served as the Convenor of the federal Classification Review Board 1994-2001.
The full text of Barbara Biggins opinion piece can be found at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=10046&page=1
In March 2010, The Psychological Bulletin (an American Psychological Association journal) published a report on the recent findings of Dr Craig Anderson, professor of psychology at Iowa State University. Anderson lead a study which analysed 130 research reports on more than 130,000 subjects worldwide, which, he claims, proves conclusively that exposure to violent video games makes young people more aggressive and less empathetic regardless of their age, sex or culture.
On March 2, 2010, Science Daily published a report on Dr Anderson's findings. The full text of this report can be found at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100301111405.htm