''I expect the new [R18+] classification to be described no differently to MA15+,'' said the managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, Jim Wallace. ''If [R18+] is described in looser terms, or is less demanding than the existing MA15+ - which is already letting [in] things that shouldn't have been there - then it's not going to work. We already know that some of the games that are sold in Australia are unacceptable and should never have slipped in under the old rating.'' However, Mr Wallace said he expected that the games industry - the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) - would push for an R18+ classification that allowed more sex and violence than the current MA15+ rating. Mr Wallace said he wanted a new, stricter MA15+ category to complement the R18+ rating. Glenn Cupit, a lecturer in child development at the University of South Australia and vice-president of lobby group the Australian Council on Children and the Media, argued that if video games were allowed to contain more sex and violence, children would find ways to access them illegally.

''It's a really important issue because of what we know from the research of the impact of playing extremely violent video games on young children's development in terms of their attitudes and values,'' he said. The chief executive of the IGEA, Ron Curry, said he disagreed with the idea that the sex and violence standards applying to MA15+ should apply to the new R18+. ''We clearly wouldn't agree with that,'' he said. ''There's no evidence to suggest … that the content that currently sits there [at MA15+] should only be suitable for adults.'' Sam Hinton, an assistant professor in media arts at the University of Canberra, said that even if a looser R18+ rating was introduced, individual states and territories could still ban R18+ games. Professor Hinton said people had little to fear from games rated R18+.

''It's not like there are these weird, sick games out there that are being kept out because we don't have a R18+ category,'' he said. ''It'll be the same games coming in but without the modifications [for MA15+], which are pretty minimal in most cases.'' A spokesperson for the Australian Classification Board, Simon Ferguson, said the details of the new R18+ rating were yet to be finalised. ''It is anticipated that the new MA15+ category will be more stringent than the old, but details are yet to be finalised,'' he said. Computer gamer Michael Irving, 24, of Ballarat, said the allowable levels of violence and sex in computer games should echo the standards allowed in films. ''I can understand the need to limit the amount [of sex and violence] but I don't understand why video games would need heavier monitoring than any other medium,'' he said.

He said that in many cases, games edited to fit a MA15+ rating were not appropriate for children and would be better off left unedited and rated R18+. ''MA15+ feels more like a recommendation,'' he said. ''Parents will be more mindful if it is rated R18+.''