New R18+ rating for computer games in NSW

Violent computer games will now be subject to R18+ ratings in NSW to protect young people from harmful and disturbing material.

The new laws, passed in the NSW Parliament on 19 September 2012, make it an offence to sell an R18+ computer game to a minor.

This is in line with the federal government's move to introduce a national regime to make classification rules for computer games and film the same.

After the bill was passed, Attorney-General Greg Smith commented:

"This is a victory for adult gamers and a victory for parents who want to protect their children from computer games with unsuitable content."

The new R18+ rating would prevent violent games from being classified as MA15+ by default because the R18+ category did not exist in Australia.

"Minors should be protected from material that is likely to harm or disturb them," Mr Smith said in a statement.

The state government said depictions of sexual violence in games would still be banned under the Refused Classification category.

The Commonwealth and states agreed to introduce an R18+ rating for computer games in July last year.

New federal guidelines on the classification of computer games will come into effect on 1 January 2013.