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After a false start today with an R18+ rating not reaching consensus for a national introduction, it seems it will be passed at a federal level and integrated state by state.
Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor called the decision an "historic agreement" after the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) meeting in Adelaide today, announcing that the 9 attorneys-general had reached an in principle agreement to endorse an R18+ rating, with some concessions for amendments to the proposed guidelines.
The guidelines for the R18+ rating were penned by the office of Brendan O’Connor himself in May of this year and distributed to the attorneys-general so that they could be addressed at this SCAG meeting.
Some states had already indicated an intention to exercise their own rights to implement an R18+ rating after today, even if a consensus bringing the classification system in line with the rest of the world was unable to be reached.
While the details of which amendments to the proposed guidelines are not yet finalised, O’Connor believes the rating will be passed through the federal cabinet within a "couple of months" and individual states can begin its introduction.
This issue had been on the SCAG agenda since 2002.
