A new six page form-letter from the South Australian Attorney-General, Michael Atkinson, on the topic of the lack of an R18+ rating for games has begun circulating. An EFA member has sent us the response he received; it seems almost identical to the ones available at both Kotaku and Reddit. [ ed: see also discussion at ausgamers. ]
The letter reiterate that this is not going to be an easy fight to win. For Atkinson, the lack of an R18+ rating is clearly something that helps keep violent media away from children, and he sees no real harm in not making the same material available to adults. This letter shows both his conviction and his arrogance on the issue. He ends by stating that his constituents “are more concerned with real-life issues than home entertainment in imaginary worlds” and notes that he is “grateful for the support [he has] had […] from the Liberal Party”.
I want to put together a response to the discussion paper that analyses and addresses all of the points that Atkinson makes, as well as systematically covering the research in the field. If you are able to help, please contact me, join our R18+ games discussion list, or take a look at our (quite bare at the moment) wiki space.
[ edit: you can get the PDF of an identical letter from the reddit post ]