Somebody Think of the Children
Censorship Policy

Classification Board squirms over vagina censorship in this Hungry Beast interview

The ABC’s Hungry Beast recently conducted an extensive interview with the Australian Classification Board’s Greg Scott about the censorship of the female anatomy, in particular the vagina. It’s part of a story on Labiaplasty. I suggest you watch it below and read the complete transcript here (as well as check out interviews with a doctor...

Classifiers refuse to comment on breast size specifics: Look young and you’re banned

The Australian Classification Board (ACB) has confirmed to Somebody Think Of The Children that a person’s overall appearance is used by the Board to determine whether someone appears to look under the age of 18 in a film or publication. A spokesperson for the Board said the overall appearance of persons in publications in conjunction...

Classification Board responds to small breasts ban

Important Update, 01/02/10: The Classification Board has confirmed that a person’s appearance is used when they determine the apparent age of a model. The ACB’s Director refused to comment on specifics about breast size. Read more. The Australian Classification Board (ACB) has responded to accusations by The Australian Sex Party that material with depictions of...

Australian Sex Party answers censorship questions

I raised concerns last week about whether the Australian Sex Party (ASP) would fight for an R18+ game classification, given Eros had been opposed to one (a bad move in my opinion). However, party convenor Fiona Patten promptly responded to my queries over the weekend and informed me that ASP does support the introduction of...

ACMA approves Content Services Code to ‘protect children’

The ACMA has approved the Internet Industry Association’s new Content Services Code. It was required because of changes made to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 last year. The biggest of those changes was probably the new prohibition on MA15+ content delivered via Internet or a mobile services, unless it was subject to appropriate access restrictions....

Classification Amendment Bill brings about changes to advertising and assessment

The Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Amendment (Assessments and Advertising) Bill 2008 passed the Senate this week. Here’s a brief look at some of the changes: The Bill allows unclassified films and computer games to be advertised before they are classified, providing they meet set conditions and are assessed as part of a new...

Budget: Conroy’s Cyber Safety plan nets $126M, filtering included

Update May 12, 2009: Click here for information on filtering in the 2009-10 Budget. Labor will spend $126 million over four years on their Cyber-Safety plan which Senator Conroy says will create a safer online environment for Australian children. That’d be nice if Mr Conroy’s idea of cyber safety didn’t include mandatory ISP filtering for...

What censorship issues were discussed at SCAG

Details of what was on the agenda at this years Standing Comittee of Attorneys-General censorship meeting have been released. Apart from the introduction of an R18+ classification for computer games, our censorship ministers also discussed: Access to RC material for research Ministers agreed that access to refused classification (RC) material for legitimate academic research and...

Public to be consulted on R18+ games classification

There’s still no R rating for games, but today’s meeting between federal, state and territory censorship ministers has at least made some progress. Despite being opposed to an adult games classification, South Australia has agreed there should be a public consultation process on the classification of games. That may mean good news if a 2005...