David Feeney (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Justice) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My remarks on this bill will follow very much in the vein of the previous speaker. Once again, we see a fine piece of Labor legislation before the House, a piece of legislation which the Labor Party welcomes. The Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Amendment (Classification Tools and Other Measures) Bill 2014 will be supported by the Labor Party. It is also the latest instalment in what is plainly becoming a habit for Minister Keenan—that is, to bring Labor policy and Labor legislation into this House.    Labor has a strong record of achievement in this policy area. The bill amends the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995—the classification act—and makes consequential amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.

As members will be aware, the classification act provides for the classification of publications, films and computer games. It forms part of a cooperative Commonwealth, state and territory scheme—the National Classification Scheme, the NCS.

The NCS is designed to provide consumers with information about publications, films and computer games to allow them to make informed decisions about appropriate entertainment material for themselves and for those in their care. The NCS has not had a significant review since it was established in 1996. Since that time classifiable

content and the way in which it is delivered to consumers has changed dramatically. For example, consumers now have ready access to classifiable content on a variety of platforms, such as the delivery of computer games on mobile and other online devices. It is easy to contemplate how in 20 years this space has been transformed by technology. In the context of ever-greater convergence of media technologies, platforms and services, and more media being accessed from the home through high-speed broadband networks, the need for a comprehensive review of classification laws and regulations became apparent to the former Labor government.    

The major principles that have informed media classification in Australia—items such as adults being free to make their own informed media choices and children being protected from material that may cause harm—continue to be relevant and important. While a convergent media environment presents major new challenges, there continues to be a community expectation that certain media content will be accompanied by classification information, based on decisions that broadly reflect community standards.

In light of these changes and the broader developments in technology, media convergence and the availability of global content, the Australian Law Reform Commission, the ALRC, was asked by the former Labor government in March 2011 to inquire into and report on the framework for the classification of media content in Australia. The report, Classification —Content Regulation and Convergent Media, was tabled in parliament in March 2012. The ALRC report made a total of 57 recommendations for changes to the regulatory framework and structure of the NCS.

In February 2012, the former Minister for Justice and Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon. Jason Clare MP, introduced an act to implement recommendations found in the ALRC report, the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Amendment (R18+ Computer Games) Bill 2012. A number of the recommendations, which are limited in their application to content, currently regulated under the NCS, had been identified by the then Labor government for implementation as a 'first tranche' of reforms.

The bill before the House implements the first tranche of reforms and was based on those recommendations. This means that Labor in office, having identified the deficiencies in this legislation, in this framework—which were coming under ever-greater strain and pressure from technology change, such as the convergent media, the global content—sought and received in due course a report. This report made 57 recommendations and that reform process is well underway. Minister Keenan has brought a bill into this parliament which reflects that important work done by the former government.

Let me to speak very briefly about the reforms found in this legislation. These reforms will broaden the scope of existing exempt film categories and streamline exemption arrangements for film festivals and cultural institutions. They will enable certain content to be classified using classification tools, such as online questionnaires that deliver automated decisions. As an aside, when one contemplates the tsunami of work that the National Classification Scheme is required to deal with—online content, apps and material accessed from tablets and phones—that kind of tool is absolutely essential to there being a meaningful classification regime for those modes of information and content. Thirdly, this bill will create an explicit requirement in the classification act to display classification markings on all classified content.

Fourthly, this bill will expand the exemptions to the modifications rule so that films and computer games that are subject to certain types of modifications do not require classification again. That is simply a common-sense amendment that goes to the fact that every time the form of a film was changed, every time the form of content was changed, every time a game was amended slightly or significantly by patches or bug fixes then that in theory produced a new product requiring a new classification. It was something that was creating an onerous workload without actually achieving policy intent. This is a very practical reform to assist the NCS to get on top of its task.

Fifthly, it will enable the Attorney-General's Department to notify law enforcement authorities of potential refused classification content without having the content classified first. This will help expedite the removal of extremely offensive or illegal content from distribution. Again, this is a common-sense measure that will assist our law enforcement authorities to get on with their job and their very important task in this space.

This bill delivers reforms that will benefit industry by streamlining processes while continuing to ensure that consumers receive useful and accurate classification information. It is worth again noting that that benefit to industry is also very important. Industry obviously manages its affairs to make sure it is serving its consumers, and the content is often prepared with particular markets in mind. This is a scheme that will save them money and time.

The former Labor government was responsible for securing the agreement of the Standing Council on Law and Justice in April 2013 for six of those 57 recommendations listed in the ALRC report. Minister Clare, then Minister for Home Affairs, did the hard yards by taking this report's recommendations to that Standing Council on Law and Justice and doing the heavy lifting in terms of securing agreement from states and territories. This bill implements those six recommendations. It implements that accomplishment of Minister Clare. In addition, it will make a number of minor amendments to the classification act that will improve the clarity of certain provisions, address legislative anomalies and enhance the administrative efficiency of the NCS. These include providing an explicit power for the minister to determine the rules for the display of consumer advice, aligning the provisions relating to the computer games authorised assessor scheme with the newer provisions relating to additional content assessors, amending section 38(1) to address the ambiguity that exists in relation to the date that a classification decision is made because the provision currently refers to when a classification is done and, lastly, replacing the requirement that the classification board contains senior classifiers with discretion to appoint senior classifiers.

The former Labor government did all the heavy lifting to enable this bill. It was Labor that asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to inquire into Australia's classification and censorship review—remarkably, the first such review in 20 years. It was Labor that took the recommendations of that report to the Standing Council on Law and Justice in April 2013, and it was Labor that secured the agreement of state and territory ministers that has borne fruit today in this bill.

In summary, Minister Keenan has found himself with a fine inheritance from the former Labor government. In fact, it is worth noting that the only legislation he has brought into this parliament has been Labor legislation. But we will never hear Minister Keenan acknowledge his inheritance. He has given his predecessor no credit for his work. Without blushing Minister Keenan issued a press release on 19 March titled 'New bill streamlines Australia's classification system', notwithstanding the fact that this was a program that was well advanced and, indeed, virtually complete. But soon Minister Keenan will need to make his own mark in this important portfolio.

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He's doing it!

David Feeney (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Justice) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He needs to bring legislation to this place that he might have conceived of himself, and we await that moment with bated breath. I am sure the member for Kooyong joins me with that sense of anticipation. Will Minister Keenan take on the challenge of developing a national unexplained wealth scheme or has he already concluded that that task is too hard? Will Minister Keenan now move to enact the other 51 recommendations of ALRC report 118 or will he fail there too because of lack of will to persuade state and territory ministers to work with the Commonwealth to create effective national schemes? Soon Minister Keenan will have run out of ready-made Labor legislation and policy initiatives and then, alas, it will be plain that in the portfolio of justice this remains a government with no agenda and no idea.

Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am compelled to respond to that summary from the opposition, which effectively distils 6½ years of inaction into a claim that the work was all done long before the coalition took power. In reality, and on the ground, the new MP should have been dropping into supermarkets and shopping centres in his own electorate and talking to the staff at EB Games, as many of us do. There was great frustration expressed by young people that clear and simple classification was not available in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 or even 2013. The Labor government were so busy spending money that they never turned their minds to the important issue of classification. It is important because parents need to know, when purchasing online material for their children or purchasing games to take home to the living room, precisely what the content is. But, no, for seven years we had no progress apart from meeting after meeting.

It is interesting that the once shameful Labor government for its fiscal responsibility was caught in the act of never having come up with any solution for the gamers in my electorate after 6½ years of government. It was a long time coming. As you can see from the relative elegant simplicity of what is proposed in the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Amendment (Classification Tools and Other Measures) Bill 2014 today, it was not a terribly hard process to arrive at. With respect, there are not a lot of people running around saying, 'We don't need a better classification system.' There are not a lot of Australians marching in the street saying, 'We don't need a simpler, clearer and less burdensome classification system for games and online material.'

There is almost universal agreement. One of those rare occasions when you can count on state governments because it is not going to cost them a great deal of money, apart from enforcement, to actually sign off on the deal—long before the 6½ years when the now Labor opposition failed to while they were in government. I have already said that if you talk to people in the gaming industry, or if you talk to the customers who walk into those games stores, they want faster, simpler and clearer indications on the front of the packaging they are purchasing.

One of the things that is also important to acknowledge is that there is a significant group of people with great concerns about some of the more highly offensive gaming material that is available overseas and is finding its way to Australia. Whether it finds its way to Australia by illegal means is one situation, but the other is that one could, potentially, accidentally purchase it online or from a store without realising its content. That is why this topic today is so important.

What we do has to be reliable, it has to be trusted by the community and in the end it has to be cost effective. State governments have to be able to enforce it in a reasonable way. So now we have a modernised national classification system, 20 years after it was first developed in 1995, and the most notable thing in this first tranche of reforms is getting rid of ridiculous elements of red tape. I defy you to explain how a federal government in power for six years could possibly sit around and not gain agreement in that time to fix the most basic stuff that we are bringing to this parliament after just six months in office. As has been pointed out here, if minor changes are made to a computer game or to your app, like fixing a bug or adding an image or something like that, that should be able to be done without having to go through a complete reclassification process.

Films that are modified for use on board an aircraft should not require a reclassification. But for six years under this Labor government it was just a problem that was too hard to fix—a mountain simply too high to climb. Lastly, for festivals and cultural organisations, one would have thought that after six years of turning up to Tropfest we would have had a federal Labor government that did not have a tin ear and could actually say, 'I can see how ridiculous this classification space is for you; let's pop down to Canberra, get the state governments together and come up with a solution.' But no, this was far too complex a process to be engaged by this Labor government.

So I am glad that in their final year of power, in the five minutes to midnight before losing a federal election, they came up with the concept of engaging the Australian Law Reform Commission to review that scheme and to look through the content of it. There is some credit in that as the past six years of government flashed before their eyes they finally took some action. But with respect, they deserve to have no credit because they could not bring it to fruition over six long years. People who love gaming are asking for nothing more than a chance to be able to pick up a box with a DVD in it and to see a classification score on. But oh no, that was just a bridge too far for this Labor government. What we need is a state government that can easily enforce a classification. We need a system that can be easily understood by people who are not deeply into gaming. And, lastly, we need confidence amongst retailers that when they put something on the shelf the customer will easily understand it.

In conclusion, this bill amends the classification act in ways that have been called for by my local constituents, by my gaming fraternity in the electorate of Bowman and by parents of minors—whether they have the games in their own homes or whether they travel to other homes to participate—who can know that the classification scheme is intact. They know that we have broadened the existing scope and that we have streamlined a whole range of exemptions. We have made sure that certain content can be classified using simpler tools, such as online checklists, to speed up that process. Of course, all of those classifications are now clearly displayed on the package.

I want to finish where I started. I do not claim that this was the most complex piece of legislation to pull together. But we have had six years of a Labor government that simply did not have the wit to do it. There is still some concern, particularly amongst some religious families in my electorate, that unconscionable video material in gaming material is still for sale. All I can say to those people is that within the law—of what is absolutely objectionable and banned—we simply need to classify clearly so that mature adults can make their own decisions on the gaming that they have at home. I have to be able to provide comfort to families that if their minors do go to another home they will know that there is, at least, a classification available We have to trust adults to make sure that is done in a way where you can have faith with your own family and friends; if there is going to be gaming, then that it is done in a way that considers the age of those who participate.

After that, as a government, I am not able to tell people which classification they should use in the privacy of their own home. That is not what gamers wanted; all they wanted was clear information. For six years I had to look that fraternity and tell them that it was just too difficult for the Labor government. That is why, if you are a gamer out there, today is a very, very happy day. It took a coalition government to bring it to fruition, and I can tell you it is the first tranche of reforms with more to follow. Those I will look forward to and will support as well.

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Amendment (Classification Tools and Other Measures) Bill 2014, which contains the first significant steps in reforming our classification system under this government.

The importance of a classification system for books, movies and games should not be underestimated in our community. An effective classification system ensures that consumers can make an informed judgement before they decide how to best spend their leisure time. Adults can make the decision to steer clear of offensive material and children can be protected from content only suitable for people beyond their years by their parents.

Classification schemes can even be used to provoke debate. Consider the voluntary introduction of the Bechdel classification in some cinemas in Sweden. This classification system ranks films on how they depict women, sparking a broader discussion on the current portrayal of women in film. In contrast, an ineffective system can at best be misleading for consumers and at worst can actually interfere with the creative process.

Stories abound in Hollywood of movies being significantly rewritten in order to achieve a lower rating and so receive wider distribution. A notorious example of this is the film Bully, directed by Lee Hirsch and produced by The Weinstein Company. It contained an important educational lesson for school children about the emotional impact of bullying. However, the Motion Picture Association of America classified it with a restrictive rating and so it could not be shown to children under 17. It took months of negotiation before this classification was eventually overturned after the film had been re-edited. So an effective classification is one that informs but does not interfere. It must also be one that stays relevant to the types of media that it is classifying.

Our classification system is in need of an update. Over the past 20 years, we have seen an explosion in the types of entertainment content available to us as consumers and how they can be viewed. Movies and television are no longer just the domain of the movie theatre or the couch at home but can be viewed on iPads, mobile phones, in the seats of planes, in shopping centres and wherever a screen can be placed. The variety, complexity and quality of games are immense, as they range from games downloaded from an app store to entertainment systems that can be photo-realistic. Material like Heavy Rain blurs the line between movie and computer game, and Game of Thrones blurs the line between television show and movie. But our current National Classification Scheme has remained largely unchanged since 1996, which was an era when the digital revolution was only beginning to kick into gear. It was an era when watching a movie at home meant turning on the VCR and when the Nintendo 64 had just been released. If you compare the variety of forms of entertainment now to the variety then, the difference is tremendous. Many of these new forms fall between the cracks of our ageing classification system. A good example, mentioned in the explanatory memorandum of the bill under consideration, is that of computer games on mobile phones, which are not currently classified online prior to their sale to Australian shoppers. These gaps create the potential not only for consumer harm but also for competitive distortions as certain media are subjected to lesser or greater levels of regulation than others.

The previous Labor government realised the importance of an effective classification system. It was committed to making the system more versatile and relevant for all who use it, but the entertainment world has many stakeholders with many competing interests. The Labor government realised the importance of having recommendations be made by an independent body. This would ensure that reforms were properly assessed and that the appropriate balance would be struck between these many stakeholders. That is why the then Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, referred the National Classification Scheme to the Australian Law Reform Commission in 2011 to assess the impact that technological changes were having on the Classification Scheme. This was the first review of the classification system since the ALRC report on censorship procedure in 1991, which led to the establishment of the classification act in 1996—a review that occurred, once again, under a Labor government.

The 2011 review of the National Classification Scheme undertook extensive consultation—it received almost 1,500 submissions for its issues paper alone—and produced a 400-page report. I was one of the participants in this review and can attest to its comprehensive nature. The report contained 57 recommendations for updating the current classification system. The Labor government took these recommendations and began the process to make them a reality. The former Minister for Justice and Minister for Home Affairs Jason Clare introduced an act to introduce a Restricted R18+ classification rating for computer games in Australia—one of the key recommendations of the report and a step that had been long discussed and long deferred and took the leadership of a bold minister to implement. This act has allowed for restricted games to be sold in Australia, meaning that those who are mature enough to experience these games have the freedom to purchase them legally. Labor also secured the agreement of the Standing Council on Law and Justice in April 2013 for six of the recommendations listed in the ALRC report to be implemented. It is these recommendations that we see in the bill before us today.

It is pleasing to see that the coalition has followed the good work of Labor in supporting the reform of our classification system. We are glad the coalition has realised the importance of ensuring we have a relevant and responsive classification system, and support the reforms included in the bill under consideration today. The reforms contained in the bill are an important response to the changes brought about by a contemporary digital world. They eliminate arbitrary legal distinctions between different forms of content that have no resemblance to the technological reality of our contemporary entertainment industry. They make it easier to ascertain classification arrangements for festivals and cultural institutions. They use the knowledge and expertise of content producers to make a more relevant and inexpensive classification system. They ensure that the classification of entertainment products is displayed upon the products, ensuring maximum awareness for consumers of the nature of the content contained within. They speed up the process of removing extremely offensive or illegal content from distribution.

The legal world often throws up ludicrous anomalies that cost time and money for the parties which they affect. We can see examples of such anomalies sprinkled throughout the current classification act. These include the separate legal classifications of a film in 3D and a film in 2D, meaning both films have to be classified separately, even if they are the same film. I feel for the official at the Classification Board who had to watch Transformers: Dark of the Moon not once but twice because of this anomaly. Moreover, if slight alterations are made to an entertainment product's content, then the entire product must be reclassified, even if the modification does not affect the original classification. The bill under consideration before us today has eliminated these artificial legal constructs and nonsenses. It will result in a classification system that is more in line with reality, which will save considerable time and money for our creative minds trying to follow their legal obligations.

We also see the reality of our modern world reflected in the changes to the classification system for festivals and cultural institutions. Under the previous legal regime, festivals had to apply to the Classification Board for a formal exemption from the classification requirements. The reforms contained in the bill under consideration will first consolidate the various state and territory requirements by consolidating the rules in the Commonwealth classification act, which will then streamline requirements around Australia. The bill will then abolish the requirement for festivals to receive a formal exemption, giving festivals around the country more flexibility in their use of entertainment material. This will save time and money for thousands of festival organisers around the country, allowing them to focus on what they do best: organising the variety of festivals that make Australia's culture so great.

A move that is particularly forward thinking is a shift in the way that films undergo the classification process. Under the current act all applications are assessed by the Classification Board. With over 6,000 applications assessed only last year, this process was extremely lengthy and was a significant cost to content providers. These reforms pave the way for the use of the International Age Rating Coalition, a revolutionary new device where the legwork needed to classify publications, movies and games is taken away from the centralised body. The IARC allows the producers of entertainment products to fill in a questionnaire and classify material that clearly falls into one of several ratings categories. A movie or film that clearly falls into a certain category of rating will receive that rating automatically, but if there is disagreement, or if the content falls on the edge of two ratings systems, the entertainment material would be referred to the Classification Board and rated traditionally.

This is a worthy change to the way our classification system is run. It will significantly reduce the time and effort spent by a few individuals at the Classification Board, allowing them to focus on the cases where the rating of entertainment material is legitimately in doubt. It means the seventh season of Dora the Explorer does not need to undergo the full classification process before being given a 'General' rating. The cumulative effect is a classification system that will become more efficient, with lower costs. It is a system that is gathering support around the world in countries such as the US, UK, Brazil and New Zealand. If there is any concern about the rating of a piece of entertainment, all decisions are reviewable by the Classification Board, where ultimate power rests.

The reform that will be most obvious to everyday consumers is the requirement that all classified content have the relevant classification markings displayed. This will ensure that consumers are fully aware of the classification given to the content in question. It will make it clear if any content has slipped through the cracks and has not been classified, because no markings will be displayed. This may seem to be a small change, but in enforcing this change a lot more information will become available to the consumers of Australia.

These reforms achieve significant benefits for the versatility and applicability of our classification system. They create a system that is responsive to new forms of entertainment but still contain sufficient powers to prevent offensive material from being accessed by those who do not wish to see it. These are merely the first tranche of reforms needed to bring our classification system firmly into the digital age. There are still 51 recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission's report on areas where our classification system could benefit from reform. The reforms in the bill under consideration today only address how entertainment is classified but they do not address what those classification standards are.

Labor believes the path to prosperity in the next century lies in the digital domain. The regulatory system surrounding this digital world must be flexible enough to encourage such prosperity. We must have a classification system flexible enough to encourage the imagination and creativity of our young entrepreneurs, and we must have a classification system that allows consumers to understand the content of the movie they are about to watch or the game they are about to play. A classification system that becomes more and more out of date will not only be a relic but also restrict the creativity of our young artists and filmmakers. We just need to look at the impact of the Hays code in the United States and the significant change in the nature of films produced in Hollywood once it was abandoned in the late 1960s. While the bill under consideration takes significant steps in the right direction, more work is needed to make sure that our classification system is ready for this digital future. I call on Minister Keenen and the Abbott government to implement the remainder of reforms found in the ALRC report on the National Classification Scheme. We must make sure that our classification system encourages the work of our artists, filmmakers and festival organisers.

Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank all members for their contributions to this debate on the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Amendment (Classification Tools and Other Measures) Bill 2014. In particular, I would like to thank the member for Bowman, who always has a very sensible perspective on issues of classification. I noticed that although the members for Batman and Gellibrand were supportive of the legislation, they were keen to claim that it was Labor's legislation that we are now implementing. I seem to recall that the Labor Party was in government between 2007 and 2013, and yet they did not put this legislation into effect. If one of their priorities was streamlining the classification system, it would be reasonable to expect they could have found an opportunity within those two terms of government to progress the implementation of this legislation.

The member for Gellibrand has called upon me to implement other recommendations of the ALRC. We are going to do that. This is only the first tranche of reforms that we will be introducing. They are very sensible reforms. The parliamentary secretary at the table is well aware of them because they are part of our agenda to repeal regulation, to free up Australian society and stop people from being subservient to silly government legislation that does not add any particular value to community safety.

This bill introduces a number of changes that will provide consumers with more classification information and simplify elements of the National Classification Scheme by removing complexity and reducing costs to business. This is a very important part of our agenda and, as I said, this is the sort of work that the parliamentary secretary has been doing, culminating in the very first repeal day we had in this parliament, just last week. Reform of the scheme has been approached in stages commencing with this first tranche of reforms that were agreed by classification ministers at the meeting of the Standing Council on Law and Justice. The bill implements the Commonwealth's commitment to the reforms. The first phase of agreed reforms includes broadening the scope of existing exempt film categories and simplifying exemption arrangements for festivals and cultural institutions; enabling the classification of certain content using classification tools such as online questionnaires that deliver automated decisions; creating an explicit requirement in the Commonwealth Classification Act to display classification markings on all classified content; expanding the exemptions to the modification rules so that films and computer games which are subject to certain types of modifications do not require classification again; and enabling the Attorney-General’s Department to notify law enforcement authorities of potential refused-classification content without having the content classified first, to help expedite the removal of extremely offensive or illegal content from distribution.

These reforms will deliver benefits to industry including streamlining administrative processes and reducing the regulatory burden, making it easier for industry to comply with classification requirements. This will ensure that consumers continue to receive useful and accurate classification information. The bill also makes a number of minor and technical amendments to the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act to improve the clarity of certain provisions, address legislative anomalies and enhance the administrative efficiency of the scheme.

This bill has the support of the state and territory ministers for classification, who agreed to these reforms at the Standing Council on Law and Justice meeting in April 2013, to answer the shadow minister's question from before. Following the passage of this legislation through the Senate, the states and territories will pass their own complementary legislation to ensure the new arrangements for the modification rules and exemption arrangements for festivals and cultural institutions are appropriately regulated. These are sensible reforms which remove some of the unnecessary burden of the existing classification regime. As members would be aware, when you are dealing with national reforms in conjunction with states and territories sometimes progress is a little slower than we would like, but this is the first tranche of reforms we will be introducing to make sure that the National Classification Scheme works as efficiently and sensibly as possible and takes into account the constant advances we have in technology and the changing ways in which Australians view content. On that note, I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.