ACB Ratings

Australia's classification body traces back to 1917, when it was established as the Commonwealth Film Censorship Board; it now operates as a statutory body under the Commonwealth Classification Act 1995, responsible for classifying content offered for exhibition, sale, or hire nationally. For video games specifically, Australia had an unusual gap for decades: unlike films, games had no R 18+ classification available at all, which meant any game whose content exceeded the MA 15+ threshold couldn't legally be classified for sale and was refused classification outright -- effectively banning it in Australia rather than restricting it to adults.

That gap stayed in place in large part because introducing an R 18+ category for games required unanimous agreement among state and territory attorneys-general, and South Australia's then attorney-general Michael Atkinson vetoed every proposal to add one. After Atkinson left that post, state and territory attorneys-general reached in-principle agreement to introduce R 18+ for games in July 2011, and the new classification formally took effect on January 1, 2013, with Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus becoming the first game released in Australia under the new R 18+ rating.