40.12 How about the Australian porn laws? What are they like?
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This article is from the Sex Movies FAQ, by director@gti.net (The Director) with numerous contributions by others.
40.12 How about the Australian porn laws? What are they like?
Craig (carlandc@zip.com.au) of Australia told the group:
The Federal Government of Australia classifies all films and
literature. The goal of the classification system is to allow
adults to read, see and hear whatever they wish while protecting
children from damaging material and preventing people being
affronted by offensive material in public places.
Film/Video
The classifications are:
G General Exhibition
PG Parental Guidance Recommended for children under 12
M Recommended for mature audiences 15 and over
MA Under 15 requires accompanying parent or guardian
R Restricted to adults 18 and over
X Explicit Sex: Restricted to adults 18 and over
G, PG and M are advisory only and children can buy tickets/rent
videos. MA, R and X are mandatory. X is effectively a video only
classification.
As well as the rating, advertising and video covers carry a short
note on the major elements that determined the rating, eg.
- coarse language )
- sex scenes ) High, Medium, Low
- violence )
- adult themes
- horror
The objective is to let you know what you'll get, and leave you to
choose. Virtually the only material refused classification, i.e.
banned, is child porn and bestiality.
The system works pretty well. The ratings are applied in a manner
roughly comparable to the US MPAA ratings, perhaps a bit tighter on
violence and a bit looser on sex. The unrated US version of "Basic
Instinct" was rated R. "Henry & June", which was rated NC-17 in
the US was rated M in Australia.
The ratings apply uniformly to cinema, video and television. MA
rated films can't be shown on TV before 9:30pm. The rating is shown
with the note at the start and momentarily in the lower right
corner after each ad break. R rated films are generally edited back
to MA for TV although some are shown uncut late at night on a
special interest channel.
The situation with X rated material is a bit messy. The federal
government allows X rated material and does the classifying. Most
states' laws theoretically don't allow X rated videos to be openly
sold/rented, but allow them to be obtained by mail order. This has
lead to the comic situation that the Australian Capital Territory,
which is outside any state law, has the largest porn industry in
the country. In practice, some states just turn a blind eye to the
retail trade.
Publications
The classifications are:
Unrestricted May be freely sold and distributed
Restricted 1 May be sold only to those over 18 and may only
be displayed in a sealed wrapper, i.e. shrink
wrapped
Restricted 2 May be only sold to those over 18 and may not
be displayed except in restricted premises,
i.e. porn shops
The goal is to prevent children browsing/buying adult
material in newsagents and to keep offensive material out of
public display.
Straightforward nudity is unrestricted, i.e. Playboy
Genitalia and erections are Restricted 1, i.e. Penthouse
Hard core, fetish, bondage, etc is Restricted 2.
A couple of states don't allow sex shops but anything can be
obtained by mail order.
The publications classifications are basically directed at
magazines, periodicals, etc. Books are very rarely classified as
Restricted. About the only example in the last decade was 'American
Psycho' which was classified as Restricted 1 after a short period
of unrestricted sale because of extreme, sadistic violence.
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