The Albanese Government is committed to modernising the National Classification Scheme to ensure it remains a relevant source of information to guide Australians' decisions about the content appropriate for themselves and their families, with a new discussion paper launched today to inform the next stage of reforms.
Successive reviews have found that the scheme has not kept pace with the way Australians access media content, particularly with the rapid growth in online content, the emergence of new content sharing platforms, and evolving community norms.
This consultation process builds on reforms that commenced on 14 March under the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Amendment (Industry Self-Classification and Other Measures) Act 2023, as part of the Government's two-stage process to reform the scheme and make it fit for the modern media environment.
For the next stage of reforms, industry and public views are being sought on three key issues:
- clarifying the scope and purpose of the scheme, including the types of content that should be subject to classification;
- ensuring the classification guidelines continue to be aligned with, and responsive to, evolving community standards, expectations and evidence; and
