Minister: R18 Issue Has Made Australia A ‘Laughing Stock’

Australian Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor has told ABC News that the government’s lack of action on the issue of an R18 games rating has made the country “the laughing stock of the developed world.”
The latest title to suffer from Australia’s baffling lack of a rating higher than MA15+ is Mortal Kombat. Last week, Warner Bros failed in their appeal against the refusal to classify the game in Australia. This effectively means the game is banned down under.
“If there is not a consensus around this issue, the Commonwealth will certainly be considering other options because we cannot continue to have an outdated classification system that’s actually, in my view, causing harm to young people,” O’Conner said.
“I say my very strong preference is to have consensus around the table in July [the date of the next meeting of Australia’s Standing Committee of Attorneys General].”