Games containing simulated gambling will be restricted to over 18s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Australia.- The government has announced that, from September 2024, video games featuring gambling-like components will be restricted in order to protect children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Video games offering in-game purchases tied to chance-based elements, such as paid loot boxes, will receive a minimum classification of ‘M’ (mature), which is deemed suitable for over 15s only. Computer games featuring simulated gambling, including social casino games, will be restricted to adults with a minimum classification of ‘R18+’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following a public consultation process, the new Games Guidelines were developed in collaboration with industry and community stakeholders, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the Classification Board, and state and territory governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government’s decision was influenced by research conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies that found that young people who engage in simulated gambling are 40 per cent more likely to spend real money on gambling as young adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Communications minister\u00a0Michelle Rowland\u00a0stated: “The Albanese Government is determined to protect vulnerable Australians from gambling harms – including children who may be exposed to gambling through video games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI thank the States and Territories for joining with us to make real changes that will protect children from gambling-like content through these changes to our classification scheme. Research shows that children exposed to gambling-like content may be more vulnerable to gambling harm later in life \u2013 and we are determined to intervene early to keep children safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese changes represent another step in our work to modernise the National Classification Scheme so that Australians can make better informed choices about what they \u2013 and those in their care \u2013 watch, read and play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This month, legislation has been introduced to\u00a0ban the use of credit cards<\/a>\u00a0for online betting in Australia country following calls from anti-gambling groups and\u00a0the Australian Banking Association (ABA)<\/a>. Also this year, the\u00a0Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)\u00a0launched\u00a0BetStop<\/a>, the nationwide self-exclusion register.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Games containing simulated gambling will be restricted to over 18s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":777004926,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Australia is implementing new classification guidelines from September 2024, restricting video games with simulated gambling or chance-based in-game purchases (like loot boxes) to over 15s or 18s, respectively, to protect children. This initiative, influenced by research on gambling harm, follows other recent Australian regulatory actions including a credit card ban for online betting and the launch of a national self-exclusion register.","focusai_entities":"Australian Communications and Media Authority, Classification Board, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Michelle Rowland, Albanese Government, Australian Banking Association","focusai_location":"Australia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.8), product_ux (0.9), marketing_crm (0.8), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.9), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Impact on game developers","query":"What specific technical and design modifications will game developers need to implement to ensure their products comply with Australia's new R18+ and M classifications for simulated gambling and chance-based mechanics?"},{"label":"Regulatory precedent implications","query":"How might Australia's proactive stance on simulated gambling content influence regulatory frameworks and governance discussions in other major iGaming jurisdictions, particularly regarding loot boxes and social casino verticals?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,156,158],"tags":[23911],"class_list":["post-777009652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-regulation-news","category-slider-home","tag-gambling-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777009652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777009652"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777009652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777041248,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777009652\/revisions\/777041248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777004926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777009652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777009652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777009652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}