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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-07-15 Daily Xml
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CLASSIFICATION (PUBLICATIONS, FILMS AND COMPUTER GAMES) (R 18+ FILMS) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 3 June 2009. Page 2503.)

The Hon. S.G. WADE (21:22): I rise to indicate that the opposition supports this bill moved by the Hon. Dennis Hood. The bill requires that R-rated videos are put in a section of a store separate from children's material. It is a relatively simple measure and one that we anticipate will not be too onerous for the operators of rental chains.

The bill also prohibits video stores from screening R-rated trailers of movies. The Leader of the Opposition (Isobel Redmond MP) said on radio on 17 April 2009 that, in her view, the bill is a sensible measure. She said:

It does sound fairly sensible that you simply segregate those things. Why would you ban the display of cigarettes in a shop and yet allow the display of R-rated videos in a different shop?

As families and individually, children and young people spend a lot of time shopping or at least spend time around retail outlets. Over recent decades the retail industry has worked hard to enhance the shopping experience so that it is increasingly being seen as a recreational and entertainment option in and of itself. Increasingly, shops are becoming public spaces with a diverse crowd of adults and children. Shop managers need to be sensitive to that reality.

It is important that retail services are managed so that children and young people are not exposed to adult products. This is not only an issue for video chains; it is an issue for magazines in newsagents, for books in bookshops and department stores, and for videos, DVDs and games in a range of outlets.

The two largest rental chains in the country (Blockbuster and Video Ezy) have 39 and 34 stores respectively in South Australia. Thousands of South Australian children would have access to these stores every week. After all, they are a major source of family entertainment material. They also carry a range of material where parental guidance is recommended. Often, the covers of this material are themselves directed at adults. The home entertainment hire business has wide exposure to the general public and we need to ensure that these places are family friendly.

In examining this issue, I think it is important to be clear what this bill is not about. This bill is not about censorship. The bill is not unreasonably limiting the access of adults to adult material: it is simply trying to ensure that children are less likely to encounter the material. Parents should feel able to take their children to the video store without inadvertently exposing them to inappropriate material.

The evidence suggests that children should not be exposed to pornography. Earlier this year, the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association carried a study by Eileen Alexy and others entitled 'Pornography use as a risk marker for an aggressive pattern of behaviour among sexually reactive children and adolescents'.

The study found that sexually reactive children and adolescents (also referred to as juvenile sexual offenders) 'may be more vulnerable and likely to experience damaging effects from pornography use'. According to the report, the young people in the study who used pornography were more likely to display aggressive behaviours than their non-using counterparts.

Similarly, an article by Steven Martino and others in the journal Pediatrics reports on their research that found that pornography and listening to music with degrading sexual lyrics is related to advances in a range of sexual activities among adolescents. This study found that the degrading nature of the lyrics is significant. Sexual lyrics which were not degrading did not have the same effect. It is not the reference to sex that affected adolescents: it is the way that sex was referenced.

This finding highlights the fact that children need to be supported in their sexual development through appropriate sexual information and advice by parents and schools. It is in the best interests of the child and society as a whole that children are allowed space to develop a healthy attitude to sexuality. This development is not supported by inadvertent exposure of children to material which is not appropriate for their stage of development.

In conclusion, I reiterate that the opposition supports this bill as a sensible measure that protects young people without unreasonably interfering with the freedoms of law abiding adults. I commend the bill to the council.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. B.V. Finnigan.

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