EB Games rallies 16k supporters of 18+ rating
Weight added to Australian campaign for change in videogame laws
16,055 signatures have been collected by the online campaign group Grow Up Australia in support of an 18 rating for games, and will be delivered to the Attorney-General's Department later this month.
The campaign was set up to support the introduction of an R18+ age rating category for videogames in Australia. The country is currently the only Western one without such a rating and pressure has been growing on the government to change the current laws.
Grow Up Australia was widely supported by EB Games, which displayed posters in all of its 250+ Australian stores encouraging supporters of the move to make their voices heard via the online petition.
"Support for the introduction of the R18+ rating has been overwhelming with ninety-nine percent of the submissions made through the website in favour of the change," said Aaron John Percival, one of the founders of Grow up Australia.
A discussion paper calling for community feedback on the issue was released in December 2009 by the Attorney-General's Department. Members of the public still have until February 28 to make their cases for or against the proposed age rating.