Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak in support of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Amendment (Assessments and Advertising) Bill 2008. The laws relating to how we classify or rate media are important for allowing consumers to make informed choices about what they see and hear, and they are important for protecting children and young people from viewing inappropriate material. The laws also provide a degree of regulation for a highly competitive industry. It is certainly amazing how much things have changed since when I was a kid. If I wanted to research a topic in primary school, I would have to jump on my bike, go down to the library in a small country town, see if the books were in and, if the books were not in, wait a couple of weeks for them to come in from another country town—whereas, nowadays, a 10- or 12-year-old boy can look up porn from all over the world very quickly. That is the change that the World Wide Web has made in terms of accessing information.

The National Classification Scheme classifies films, including video, DVDs, computer games and some publications. State and territory governments also have classification legislation in place to enforce the scheme. This bill will put in place a scheme to allow unclassified computer games to be advertised before they are classified. Of course, this is subject to various conditions.

The bill also streamlines the classification process for films that are one or more episodes of a television series broadcast in Australia. Under the National Classification Scheme, films and computer games cannot legally be advertised until classified. However, under the advertising exemption scheme a limited number of exemptions can be granted. There is a set quota of 110 exemptions each year. These apply to major cinema releases where the film has not yet been completed, and therefore cannot be classified, when advertising begins. I am sure we have all sat in cinemas and seen the ads saying, ‘This film has not yet been classified.’

Last year the classification scheme reviewed more than 800 computer games. Currently computer games cannot carry advertisements for games that have not yet been classified. The computer game industry, I will inform those people who are over 18, is a very big industry in Australia. In fact, last year the computer games industry out-profited the cinema industry. It is not an area that I have been into, but at each shopping centre you go to now you see shops that are full of computer games. So this measure is similar to cinema’s in that it lets people buy a game before it has been classified by the Office of Film and Literature Classification. With this new industry it is very appropriate that such a huge number of consumers should be afforded the same promotional tools that are available to cinema. I point out that Australia is actually leading the way in a lot of computer games. We have a computer game industry, especially in Brisbane, that is taking on the rest of the world. So, anything we can do to help it, such as treating it the same as cinema, is good.

There is self-regulation of the industry, which improves efficiency and lowers the regulatory burden for distributors. So this bill is a step in the direction of eliminating some of that red tape. I commend the former government, and the current Rudd government, for having taken steps in that direction.

An authorised assessment scheme will be in place for distributors to assess their games prior to classification by the board. Assessors are trained annually in a course approved by the Director of the Classification Board. Distributors are therefore able to assess their computer games for advertising and they must ensure they are advertised with games of the same rating. For example, PG games can only be advertised with PG games or higher. So, if parents and kids are in a shop, they will know that they will only be looking at similar sorts of games. But the safeguard for all Australians ensures that the final classification still lies with the board. I stress that, as it is very important: the Australian government still has the final say. The assessors at the Office of Film and Literature Classification still make the final decision based on what is in the game. There is currently a high level of consumer confidence in the film self-assessment scheme, so there is no reason why this will not work for computer games also.

The classification scheme is a very effective one. All films are classified within 20 days of lodgement with the board. With more than 8,500 films and DVDs, and 800 computer games, reviewed every year this is an incredible workload. One of my brothers works at the Office of Film and Literature Classification and it has been amazing over the years to listen to the stories of what they have to sit through. Unfortunately many of those 8,500 films are pornographic, and it is apparently incredibly mind-numbingly boring to watch porn all day or, even worse, to watch sitcoms all day, going all the way through, or, likewise, to go through all the different levels of computer games to make sure there is nothing inappropriate. Obviously, with young, impressionable minds playing these games or watching these films, it is important that the state plays a role in making sure that the classification is appropriate. Having had a sibling that works in this area, I commend the work of all of those at the Office of Film and Literature Classification.

I am also pleased that this bill will prohibit films that are likely to be classified PG or higher being advertised to an audience for a G film. Basically, if you go along to a G-rated movie you will not be seeing ads for a PG film. Under current measures, films granted advertising exemption that are likely to be classified PG can be advertised together with a G film. This bill ensures that only films likely to be classified G can be advertised to an audience for a G film.

This is particularly important for me as the father of an almost-three-year-old. When we went to see Bee Movie this year, we saw PG ads which contained completely different concepts, and they certainly freaked out my child. I had to calm him down for Bee Movie. The bill means that parents who take their children to G movies can be comfortable knowing that the cinema will not be showing inappropriate advertisements. This is a great relief for parents I know that try to be gatekeepers of what their children see. This bill ensures parents can make informed choices about what their children see at the cinema, both in the ads before the movie and obviously in the movie. It gives parents greater confidence that young children will not be inadvertently exposed to unsuitable material.

This bill strikes a good balance. It will reduce the regulatory burden on industry while ensuring ongoing consumer confidence, so there will still be the stopgaps of making sure that nothing will be classified inappropriately but the bill will also make sure that it is a quick process. It is yet another step in the Rudd government’s approach to getting rid of red tape. I commend the bill to the House.

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