30 Years of the Classification Office

The Act passed into law in August 1993, and came into full effect in 1994.

The legislation combined the classification systems for film, home media and written and printed publications into one system.

Kathryn was Chief Censor from 1994 to 1998.

The Office of Film and Literature Classification (Te Tari Whakarōpū Tukuata, Tuhituhinga) was formed on 1 October 1994.

This replaced the Chief Censor of Films, Video Recordings Authority, and Indecent Publications Tribunal.

10 sets of playing cards were submitted by Customs for classification. Four were classified as objectionable, and the rest were classified as R18.

The original Resident Evil game was classified R16 on 27 September 1996 [OFLC 9601224].

130 Wellington students watched There’s Something About Mary.

The Big Hit was classified R16 on 6 July 1999 [OFLC 9900937].

Bill was Chief Censor from 1999 to 2010.

Students watched American Pie 2.

In the Moonen case [2000] 2 NZLR 9 (CA), the Court of Appeal determined that the freedom of expression set out in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 must always be fully considered whenever a publication is, or may be, restricted, cut, or banned.

In the court case between Living Word Distributors and the Human Rights Action Group [2000] 3 NZLR 570 (CA), the Court of Appeal clarified the grounds under which content can be banned under the Classification Act, and how different rights under the Bill of Rights Act should be balanced when making classification decisions.

This law change:

• expanded the definition of “objectionable” to include nude pictures of children and young persons;
• allowed publications to be age-restricted for highly offensive language and dangerous imitable conduct; and
• increased penalties for possession and distribution of objectionable publications.

Many of these amendments resulted from the Living Word case in 2000.

A T-shirt was submitted by a member of the public for classification. It was initially classified as objectionable [OFLC 800513], but later classified R18 [OFLC 2000089.000].

Musicotherapie was classified PG on 3 July 2008 [OFLC 801168].

Dr Jack was Chief Censor from 2011 to 2017.

A soft drink can featuring illustrations was submitted by a member of the public for classification, and was classified as unrestricted [OFLC 1101242.000].

The book was submitted by the Department of Internal Affairs for classification [OFLC 1200609.000].

Into the River by Ted Dawe was classified as unrestricted, following several decisions by the Classification Office and Film and Literature Board of Review [OFLC 1300727.000, 1500261.000].

This law change introduced:

• Stricter penalties for offending relating to child sexual abuse material. This included higher maximum penalties for possessing, making, distributing, importing or exporting this material.
• A presumption of imprisonment for people who have committed certain offences under the Classification Act.

This three-stage research and consultation project explored the effects of viewing sexual violence in mainstream commercial media such as movies, TV shows and games:

• November 2016: Focus groups with teenagers
• April 2017: Discussions with service providers working with young people
• July 2017: Interviews with young New Zealanders

Various campervans were classified as unrestricted, R16 and objectionable. The decisions were upheld on review.

The Chief Censor called in 13 Reasons Why and classified it RP18. Seasons 1 and 2 of 13 Reasons Why are to date the only publications that the Office has classified as RP18.

David was Chief Censor from 2017 to 2022.

The Youth Advisory Panel is a diverse group of rangatahi between the ages of 16-19 who ensure a youth perspective is represented in our classification, information and research work.

This project explored the extent of pornography use by young New Zealanders, why they view it, how they perceive it, and the guidance they’re getting (or not getting) from trusted adults about topics like porn, sex, relationships and consent.

• December 2018: NZ Youth and Porn
• December 2019: Breaking Down Porn
• April 2020: Growing Up with Porn

Both decisions were upheld on review by the Film and Literature Board of Review, and informed our subsequent approach to violent extremist content.

Convened in response to the March 15 terror attacks, the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) team provides specialist content knowledge and experience to the Classification Office.

This law change:

• introduced requirements for major streaming providers in New Zealand to display rating and classification information; and
• allowed these services to apply to the Chief Censor to use an approved system to rate content themselves if it has not previously been rated or classified in New Zealand.

The Edge of the Infodemic explored how New Zealanders are affected by the spread of misinformation and the harm it causes our communities.

This law change introduced new powers for the Classification Office and Department of Internal Affairs to respond to TVEC terrorist and violent extremist content (TVEC) online.

Recommendations from the 1989 Ministerial Committee of Inquiry into Pornography that “one group of people be permanently appointed to classify all works which must, or can, be classified”, working alongside “an educational and research team”, led to the formation of the Classification Office.

Caroline's term began on 20 July 2022.

Part 1 asked people from around New Zealand about what they're watching and what concerns they had about it.

Part 2 provided further details about New Zealanders’ views on age ratings, the classification system, and the role of the Office.

The Office published an online resource reviewing existing literature about misogynistic content and the challenges this content poses to New Zealand, along with a summary report of the research.

The Office partnered with Netsafe to explore how the complex online experiences of young people in Aotearoa New Zealand influenced their mental and emotional wellbeing.