Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Leyonhjelm for his prior notice. As colleagues would know, the National Classification Scheme is a joint responsibility of the Commonwealth in conjunction with the states and territories. I am advised that the Classification Board can only refuse to classify content in very specific circumstances which are outlined in the National Classification Code and guidelines. The code and guidelines require that classification decisions are to give effect to certain principles, including that adults should be able to read, hear, see and play what they want but also to take into account community concerns around violence and, particularly, sexual violence.

Refusing to classify content helps to prevent the exposure of children and the public to very high-impact content, including material that promotes terrorism, crime and violence in the community and child exploitation material. A decision by the Classification Board to refuse to classify content is not taken lightly. So far this year, the board has not refused to classify any films, computer games or publications submitted by industry. A decision to refuse classification can be reviewed by the Classification Review Board. It is also important to point out that, under the national arrangements, the enforcement of classification is the responsibility of the states and territories.

I accept that the online environment presents different enforcement challenges to bricks and mortar stores. But there are steps that we can take. For example, our international age rating category tool that we use to classify online, mobiles and games, including on Google Play, requires a commitment from participating distribution platforms to not sell refused classification games to Australians based on geocoding. I understand that there is a very high compliance with this requirement.