CANBERRA, Australia — The Australian government yesterday released a review of the nation’s content rating system for audiovisual material and games, proposing an end to the country’s censorship of certain fetishes and some instances of violence in pornography.
The government, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Labor Party, published the results of a report that was completed in May 2020 but was not prioritized at the time by the conservative administration of then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party.
The classification review recommended that in the film guidelines, “absolute prohibitions on legal fetishes and violence (where violence is unrelated to sex) within the X18+ category should be removed.”
According to The Guardian, Australia “has long refused to classify films combining sex and violence, effectively banning films such as ‘Ken Park,’ Larry Clark’s tale of degraded skatepark life, and pornography that depicts violence separate to sex.”
The 2008 Digital Playground title “Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge” became part of the Australian debate over media classification when Reason party leader Fiona Patten pointed out that the big-budget title “had been banned because of depictions of pirates having sword-fights.”
The review also agreed with the Classification Board, the Eros Association and the Scarlet Alliance, all of which filed statements in support of overturning the current absolute censorship of consensual fetish content.
“Departmental research into attitudes towards refused classification content shows that the community is unconcerned about depictions of most fetishes, as long as there is consent, and no serious harm is inflicted,” the review noted. “Similarly, depictions of violence that are not directly linked to sexual activity do not appear to be of particular concern.”
Australian scholar Jarryd Bartle, a regular local source on sex work issues, told The Guardian that under current X18+ guidelines, “the depiction of consensual dripping of candle wax on a person’s body would be banned.”
The Specter of Unclassified Online Content
The review also endorsed the ongoing and controversial attempts by the country’s head censor, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, to implement age verification specifically targeting “online pornographic sites.”
As XBIZ reported, Inman Grant acknowledged having conversations with the U.S.-based, religiously inspired anti-porn lobby NCOSE (formerly Morality in Media) while drafting her policies.
Rowland said that upcoming reforms “will update the classification system to respond to the large volume of online content that is not compliant with the current scheme,” the Guardian reported. “The government intends to expand options for industry to self-classify content, making it simpler and more cost effective for the film, streaming and games industries to classify their content in line with Australian classification guidelines.”
The Albanese government, the Communications Minister added, “will consult with industry and other key stakeholders on broader reform of the scheme in due course.”
Australia does not have an analogue to the U.S. First Amendment, which offers expansive protections to free speech.
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