X Rated Ban in Australia

Representatives of the Eros Association, an Australian adult trade group, told a Senate committee looking into the so-called nanny state , its members were suffering because of restrictions on what they could sell.

While they couldn't sell films depicting certain consensual sex acts, people could still stream them online. Eros business manager Joel Murray told a hearing:

They simply download it or order it from overseas. That's money that doesn't enter the Australian economy. So from an economic perspective it doesn't make sense.

He also criticised the limited list of acceptable practices and fetishes, with many of those not included discriminating against the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

The restrictions of businesses selling adult entertainment are so severe that they are proving unviable. There were only two businesses in the ACT (Canberra) that had X18+ licences and they soon would give them up, he warned. The X18+ licence fee in the ACT ranges from $15,000 to $31,000, with having single films classified costing more than $1000.

The association also raised concerns about state laws that ban the sales of porn in all the major states. Adults can buy and possess X18+ films (with the exception of Western Australia), but only adult stores in the ACT and Northern Territories can sell them.

The first motion to legalise X rated films in an Australian state was tabled in the Victorian Parliament this morning by Fiona Patten of the Australian Sex Party. The motion reads:

That this House

(1) acknowledge that the National Classification Code defines X 18+ as a legal classification of film that contains real depictions of actual sexual activity between consenting adults in which there is no sexual violence or otherwise;

(2) acknowledge that, in Victoria, the sale and exhibition of X 18+ films is prohibited, but the ownership and purchase of such films is legal;

(3) note that this structure is not only illogical, but has enabled the availability of pirated and refused classification films that may feature sexual violence;

(4) change the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 to allow the sale and exhibition of X 18+ films, and bring the Act into line with the Federal Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995, and the Australian Law Reform Commission's 2012 recommendations;

(5) note that this change will allow for tighter regulations of X 18+ films in Victoria, so that adult material is sold only to adults from age restricted areas, ensuring that sexually violent material is not available, and helping to combat piracy.