The Australian Senate approved on Monday night legislation that sets an R18+ rating for video games sold in the country. The rating system will inform buyers, parents and retailers about which games are suitable or not for minors to buy or play. Video games with R18+ ratings would not be sold to minors.

After similar legislation would be passed by Australian states and territories, the classification system would take effect across the country beginning January 1, 2013.

It would follow international standards, said Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare who added that the reform took 10 years to become a law. He disclosed that as part of the consultation that took years to complete, one discussion paper received over 58,000 submissions most of which were in favour of the new classification system.

Prior to the Senate approval, MA15+ was the highest rating for computer games which meant adult-only games from overseas are not allowed in Australia or are given a lower classification to allow its purchase by minors.

Mr Clare shared with participants to a Gametech conference in Sydney on Tuesday that he grew up playing video games, beginning with Donkey Kong, until he moved up to more sophisticated games such as Commodore 64, Leaderboard Golf, Summer Games and Frogger.

"A lot has changed since then.... It's not just that the games are better, or more exciting, it's about more than just games or entertainment, or getting fit. It's not just a bit of fun - it's a very serious business," Delimiter quoted Mr Clare.

Like the Labor MP, the bulk of adults now in Australia grew up with video games and continues to play them. Thus, 90 per cent of Aussie households own computer games, a study by Bond University said. It has resulted in the average age of computer game users rising to 32, of which 47 per cent are females.

As more children and adults purchase video games, the country's gaming industry is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 10 per cent and hit a turnover of $2.5 billion yearly by 2015.

Mr Clare said that more reforms would be made affecting the industry in an effort to keep up with the rapid pace of changes. He cited that prior to the approval of the R18+ system, the last update of Australia's classification system based on the 1990s models of media delivery was 16 years ago. Back then, he recalled, videos were rented from neighbourhood stores and computer games were sold in cardboard boxes.

He pointed out that media is now sent through mobile phones, social media or available in the clouds.