History of Censorship in Australia
The history of censorship in Australia reflects the nation’s colonial roots and its evolution into a parliamentary democracy. Since its colonization by Great Britain in the late eighteenth century, Australia has grappled with issues of censorship that parallel those found in Britain and the United States. The classification of films and other media is overseen by the Classification Board, which was established in 1970 and employs a rating system that includes categories like G, PG, and R18+. While the refusal of licenses for films is relatively rare, with only about 2.5% denied, content deemed obscene or capable of inciting crime can prevent distribution.
In the realm of literature, Australia's historical book censorship was notably strict, especially in the twentieth century, though restrictions are less common today. However, certain genres, such as erotica and works discussing drug use or euthanasia, still face challenges in classification. Video games have also experienced stringent censorship, with many titles banned outright due to their content, and the extension of these restrictions to digital games in 2015 reflecting an increase in regulatory enforcement. Internet censorship laws are among the strictest in the Western world, with measures in place to block content deemed inappropriate for children.
Additionally, freedom of information in Australia is somewhat limited; while the Freedom of Information Act exists, key areas such as national security are exempt. Overall, while Australia maintains a generally free press, significant limitations remain, influenced by a few dominant corporations in the media landscape.
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History of Censorship in Australia
Description: Continent in Oceania whose British colonies became a single independent nation in 1901
Significance: Australia’s history of freedom of speech and censorship has many parallels with those of the United States and Great Britain
Australia was first colonized by Great Britain in the late eighteenth century, when the British founded a penal colony at Botany Bay. Eventually, the continent, along with the neighboring island of Tasmania, was divided into seven British colonies. Australia remained sparsely populated, however, until after the gold rush of 1851. When the Australian colonies separated from British rule in 1901, they unified under a parliamentary democracy, following the ideals incorporated in English common law, and incorporating the guarantees embodied in the U.S. Constitution. Partly for these reasons, Australia’s subsequent experience with censorship has been similar to that of Great Britain and the United States.
Censorship of film, for example, has been controlled by the Classification Board (formerly the Office of Film and Literature Classification), formed in 1970. This board classifies films in a manner similar to that of the Motion Picture Association of America. The classifications include G, for general audiences; PG, parental guidance recommended for children under fifteen; M, recommended for people over fifteen; MA15+, no one under fifteen admitted, and R18+, no one between ages two and eighteen admitted. The MA15+ and R18+ ratings are prohibitions governed by law; the other ratings are advisory. Films may also be refused licenses due to their indecency or obscenity; potential to incite crime or undermine morality; or their possible offensiveness to an ally of Australia or to the people of any nation which—like Australia—recognizes the British monarchy as its head of state. Only about 2.5 percent of films are refused licenses—most of them for obscenity. Any film that is refused classification may not be distributed in Australia. There is also an X18+ rating for sexually explicit material; films with this rating are banned in the majority of Australian states and can only be bought in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.
In the twentieth century, Australia had the strictest book censorship of any democratic nation; not only did it ban Lady Chatterley's Lover (as many other countries did), but it also banned The Trial of Lady Chatterley, an account of the book's UK obscenity trial. In the twenty-first century, censorship of books has become less frequent, but erotica and books on drug use and assisted suicide or euthanasia are still refused classification much of the time.
Australia has become known in the twenty-first century for its unusually draconian restrictions on video games, refusing classification to games that depict drug use, sex, and even the creation of graffiti. A game that has been refused classification cannot be sold by any Australian retailer. Prior to 2011, there was no R18+ rating for games, and all games that would have merited that rating were therefore banned; however, even after the addition of the R18+ rating, many games have still been denied classification. Games released only digitally and not for sale in brick-and-mortar stores were not subject to classification until 2015; once the video game restrictions were extended to cover digital games, the Classification Board banned four times as many games in four months as it had in the ten preceding years.
The country also has some of the most stringent internet censorship laws in the Western world, although these have proved difficult to enforce. The Australian Communications and Media Authority may issue a takedown notice to any Australian-hosted site with material that would be classified as R18+ or above if it does not take sufficient measures to prevent children from seeing the content, as well as to any material that would be refused classification. Mandatory internet filtering to block sites hosted in other countries that meet these criteria was proposed in the first decade of the twenty-first century, but was not adopted. However, in 2015 an amendment to Australian copyright law was passed allowing for the court-ordered blocking of any nondomestic site whose primary purpose was deemed to be the facilitation of copyright infringement. What exactly would constitute "facilitation of copyright infringement" was not defined in the bill.
Obscenity restrictions are handled by both the national government and the states. The Commonwealth deals with imported materials and prohibits the importation of materials that are blasphemous, indecent or obscene, or which unduly emphasize sex, horror, violence, or crime. The state governments handle the publication, advertising, and distribution of materials produced domestically, and regulations vary significantly from state to state.
In 1982 Australia’s parliament passed a Freedom of Information Act modeled on that of the United States that gave citizens and reporters access to documents and incorrect government records. However several significant areas were exempted from the act, including national security and defense documents, documents related to international relations, internal cabinet documents, and documents made prior to the passage of the bill.
In general, Australia has had a free press, but with limitations in two areas. The police have the power to request a suppression order against the publication of court evidence, which some believe can be used to limit genuine grievances against the government. Also, a few powerful people dominate the commercial networks, sometimes called a “government-sanctioned oligopoly.” The newspaper industry has had a similar limitation, in that one corporation has controlled 50 percent of national newspaper circulation.
In May, 1993, the Conservation Council of Western Australia, a coalition of sixty-seven environmental groups, accused the Department of Conservation and Land Management of using the peer review process to censor and suppress papers critical of the government’s management of the region’s forests. The government has denied these charges and pointed to significant papers that were published that contradicted the government’s policies.
Bibliography
Cettl, Robert. Offensive to a Reasonable Adult: Film Censorship and Classification in Australia. Adelaide: Robert Cettl Ebooks, 2014. PDF file.
Jones, Derek, ed. "Australia." Censorship: A World Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge, 2015. 131–46. Print.
Lee, Jenny. "Banned Books in Australia." University of Melbourne. U of Melbourne, 2010. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
Moody, Glyn. "Australia Passes Controversial Anti-Piracy Web Censorship Law." Ars Technica. Conde Nast, 22 June 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
Sveen, Benjamin. "Australia Bans 220 Video Games in 4 Months as Government Adopts New Classification Model." ABC News. ABC, 30 June 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.