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Guide

Game classification in Australia

A classification is a guide to who a game is suitable for. In Australia, computer games are classified under a national scheme, and understanding how it works helps you judge a game for yourself or for someone in your care. This page explains the system and points you to the authority that administers it.

Who classifies games

Computer games made available in Australia are classified under the National Classification Scheme. The body that classifies them is the Australian Classification Board, an independent statutory body. Its decisions, and the categories it uses, are published on the Government’s classification website. Rather than paraphrase the law here, we point you to the primary source: you can read about the categories and search classified titles at classification.gov.au.

We describe the scheme in general terms below so you know what to look for. Where the exact wording or a specific legal requirement matters to you, rely on the classification website rather than on any summary, including ours.

The classification categories

According to the Australian Classification website, games are placed into categories that signal the intended audience and whether legal restrictions on sale and access apply. In broad terms, the categories run from those suitable for a general audience through to those restricted to adults. The table below is a plain overview; for the authoritative definitions and any age restrictions, see the classification website linked above.

The G, PG and M categories are advisory: they are guidance rather than legal restrictions. The MA 15+ and R 18+ categories carry legal restrictions on who a game can be sold or made available to. For the precise meaning of each, and how restrictions are enforced, the classification website is the source that governs.

How to read a classification

A classification comes with two useful parts: the category itself, and the “consumer advice” that accompanies it. The consumer advice is a short description of the content that led to the rating — for example, references to violence or online interactivity. Reading both together tells you far more than the category alone. A game and another game might share a category for quite different reasons, and the consumer advice is where that difference shows.

Randomised items and simulated gambling

Some games include paid randomised items — where you pay for a chance at an in-game reward — or features that resemble gambling. These matter for suitability, especially for younger players, and they can be reflected in a game’s classification and consumer advice. We do not present any game containing purchasable randomised items or simulated gambling as suitable for minors. If this is a concern for you, check the consumer advice for the specific game on classification.gov.au, and see our explanation of how these purchases work in free-to-play, explained.

Online games and content that changes

Online multiplayer games raise a particular point: some of what you experience is generated by other players, in chat and in play, and that content is not itself classified. A classification tells you about the game as assessed; it cannot speak for every interaction that happens live between players. That is one reason the safety habits on our staying safe page matter alongside a classification, particularly where a younger person is playing.

Checking a game before you play

Before you or someone in your household starts a new online game, a two-minute check is worth the time.

1. Search the title

   Use the search on classification.gov.au to find the game’s classification and consumer advice.

2. Read the consumer advice

   Note what the advice says about violence, online interactivity, and any in-game purchases.

3. Match it to the player

   Decide whether the category and content suit the person who will actually be playing, not games in general.

4. Set controls if needed

   On a shared or family device, turn on purchase confirmation and any available parental controls before the first session.

One of the desktop games we describe in this category is World of Tanks. Our page on it notes what the vendor states about the game and directs classification questions to the Australian Classification Board rather than making a rating claim of our own.

Parental controls sit alongside classification

A classification tells you who a game is intended for; parental controls help you act on that decision. Most desktop platforms and stores let an adult require a password or PIN for purchases, limit spending, and restrict which titles can be installed by classification. These controls are separate from the classification itself, and they are worth setting up on a shared or family computer before a younger player’s first session. They also help with the part a classification cannot cover — live interaction between players — by letting you limit or disable chat in some games.

Where classifications come from, and staying current

Classifications are decisions made under the National Classification Scheme, and the Government’s classification website is where they are published and kept up to date. A game’s classification can be revised, and new titles are added as they are assessed, so a check made today is more reliable than a rating you remember from a while ago. If you want to understand how decisions are reached, or to look up a title that is not one we cover, the search and the explanatory material on classification.gov.au are the right starting point. We deliberately do not reproduce individual ratings here, because they can change and because the authoritative record lives on that site.

Common misunderstandings

A few misconceptions come up often, and clearing them up makes a classification more useful.

• “A rating covers everything in the game.” It covers the game as assessed, but not content created live by other players. In an online game, that distinction matters.
• “G means there is nothing to think about.” A general-audience category still sits alongside consumer advice and, in a free-to-play game, alongside optional purchases you may want to manage.
• “The rating is the vendor’s opinion.” Classification is a matter for the Australian Classification Board under the national scheme, not a marketing choice by the game’s maker.

For the authoritative position on any of this, the Government’s classification website is the source: classification.gov.au. We link it rather than restate the law, so that what you rely on comes from the body that sets it.