children & films
To a greater or lesser degree, censorship in New Zealand has always been about protecting children from the harmful effects of certain types of material. Under the Classification Act, a publication has to be judged to be injurious to the public good before it can be restricted or banned. In addition, under the Bill of Rights Act 1990, a publication has to be given the least restrictive possible classification possible to prevent injury in order to preserve freedom of expression. The Office has to show in its decisions that any restriction is a justified limit on this freedom.
This means that films that have been given a restricted classification have been carefully considered and judged to be injurious to people under the age of the restriction (for example, R13, R16 or R18). It is illegal for underage children to be shown such a film and the penalties for doing so are a maximum fine of $10,000 or a jail term of up to 3 months.
There are no exceptions to a restricted classification. Parental permission is not sufficient to override the classification. The Act specifically says that it is no excuse that the parent, or cinema operator, or shop manager, did not know that it was a restricted publication. This makes sense because of the bright red labels affixed to publications that clearly state what the restriction is.
There are a few films which have a specific classification allowing people under the age of a restriction to view a film with their parents. This are completely separate classifications (RP13 and RP16), which are used infrequently.
Unrestricted films (G, PG and M) are able to be watched by any person. It is important to remember that not all G or PG level films are made for children and many are aimed at an adult audience. These ratings are recommendations, and should be read in combination with the descriptive note for the film. The Office has received complaints about M rated films being shown to people under 16. This is not illegal, since the film is not restricted. However, our schools section has some suggestions for teachers when planning to show students M rated films that parents and teachers might find useful. Learn more suggestions for teachers.
Film Ratings
Film ratings are consumer advice given to unrestricted films. Ratings are intended as information to guide consumers or for parents wanting to learn about film suitability before they allow their children to attend a film. There are a range of ratings that may be given to a film:
- G: intended for general audience,
- PG: parental guidance recommended and
- M: recommended for mature audiences aged 16 years and over.
The Film and Video Labelling Body is the organisation responsible for assigning ratings to films.
Descriptive Notes
Most film ratings will be accompanied by a descriptive note. This note informs audiences of film content that might be of concern. Parents are strongly advised to take these notes into consideration when choosing a film for their family to watch. G rated films will generally not have a note since such a film should have no content of concern. It is, however, a legal requirement that film advertising includes the applicable descriptive note. The most common descriptive notes are:
- violence
- sexual themes or content
- offensive language
If you believe that the film rating and descriptive content does not provide you with sufficent information, you can search for more information on the film in your local newspapers, film reviews in the media or via movie database websites.
Restricted publications in the home
Restrictions apply in the home. It is illegal for a parent to make a restricted film available to children under the age of the restriction. This applies to games as well.
If you are not sure whether a publication has been classified, contact the Information Unit.