19.05.2011
Approach to the Inquiry
Question 1. In this Inquiry, should the ALRC focus on developing a new framework for classification, or improving key elements of the existing framework?
Why classify and regulate content?
Question 2. What should be the primary objectives of a national classification scheme?
What content should be classified and regulated?
Question 3. Should the technology or platform used to access content affect whether content should be classified, and, if so, why?
Question 4. Should some content only be required to be classified if the content has been the subject of a complaint?
Question 5. Should the potential impact of content affect whether it should be classified? Should content designed for children be classified across all media?
Question 6. Should the size or market position of particular content producers and distributors, or the potential mass market reach of the material, affect whether content should be classified?
Question 7. Should some artworks be required to be classified before exhibition for the purpose of restricting access or providing consumer advice?
Question 8. Should music and other sound recordings (such as audio books) be classified or regulated in the same way as other content?
Question 9. Should the potential size and composition of the audience affect whether content should be classified?
Question 10. Should the fact that content is accessed in public or at home affect whether it should be classified?
Question 11. In addition to the factors considered above, what other factors should influence whether content should be classified?
How should access to content be controlled?
Question 12. What are the most effective methods of controlling access to online content, access to which would be restricted under the National Classification Scheme?
Question 13. How can children’s access to potentially inappropriate content be better controlled online?
Question 14. How can access to restricted offline content, such as sexually explicit magazines, be better controlled?
Question 15. When should content be required to display classification markings, warnings or consumer advice?
Who should classify and regulate content?
Question 16. What should be the respective roles of government agencies, industry bodies and users in the regulation of content?
Question 17. Would co-regulatory models under which industry itself is responsible for classifying content, and government works with industry on a suitable code, be more effective and practical than current arrangements?
Question 18. What content, if any, should industry classify because the likely classification is obvious and straightforward?
Classification fees
Question 19. In what circumstances should the Government subsidise the classification of content? For example, should the classification of small independent films be subsidised?
Classification categories and criteria
Question 20. Are the existing classification categories understood in the community? Which classification categories, if any, cause confusion?
Question 21. Is there a need for new classification categories and, if so, what are they? Should any existing classification categories be removed or merged?
Question 22. How can classification markings, criteria and guidelines be made more consistent across different types of content in order to recognise greater convergence between media formats?
Question 23. Should the classification criteria in the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 (Cth), National Classification Code, Guidelines for the Classification of Publications and Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games be consolidated?
Refused Classification (RC) category
Question 24. Access to what content, if any, should be entirely prohibited online?
Question 25. Does the current scope of the Refused Classification (RC) category reflect the content that should be prohibited online?
Reform of the cooperative scheme
Question 26. Is consistency of state and territory classification laws important, and, if so, how should it be promoted?
Question 27. If the current Commonwealth, state and territory cooperative scheme for classification should be replaced, what legislative scheme should be introduced?
Question 28. Should the states refer powers to the Commonwealth to enable the introduction of legislation establishing a new framework for the classification of media content in Australia?
Other issues
Question 29. In what other ways might the framework for the classification of media content in Australia be improved?