Andrew Nesvadba

Video games in Australia have been a much maligned medium, either blamed for the ills of society just like the scholars of 1850 harpooned the emergence of popular novels, or by passing them over as mere ‘toys’ for children to play with. The real state of video games in Australia couldn’t be further from the truth with the average age of a gamer being 29 and with an ever increasing amount of households joining the computer and video game revolution, the Ratings Board of Australia needs to reconsider their outdated system.

As of March 2008, the Standing Committee of Attorney Generals has commenced a study in to finding out Australia’s attitudes towards gaming and whether introducing an R rating, which currently doesn’t exist for computer and video games, would be accepted. This survey comes as industry research for the gaming industry continues to build momentum, with the Interactive Entertainment Alliance of Australia (IEAA) also commencing a new study in to the gaming habits of Australia.

The research is headed by Dr Jeff Brand, an Associate Professor for the School of Communication and Media at Bond University and will reach completion by 2009.