With all the current discussion on the mandatory filter and censorship I've been looking breifly into current law in regards to classification of material and what entails infringement of these classification legislation. So, in NSW, the
current legislation appears to state that it is illegal to import, sell or distribute X 18+ and RC (refused classification) material (including unclassified material that would probably be rated RC if rated). This is common across Australia except in ACT and NT where X 18+ can be legally hired and sold except in prescribed areas.
Possession however is where I'm confused. If we restrict this discussion to RC material, it would appear that it's legal to possess RC material as long as it's not publically displayed and not accessible to minors. You can't publically exhibit RC material, but there doesn't seem to be any restrictions, other than having minors present during private viewing. This would seem to indicate that while it's illegal to buy, sell or distribute RC material, it's legal to view it privately.
The same is actually present in the laws regarding computer games. World of warcraft is interesting actually because it's currently unclassified (even though it wouldn't be rated higher than MA15+). According to NSW legislation:
A person must not sell or publicly demonstrate:
(a) a computer game classified RC, or
(b) an unclassified computer game.
But there appears to be no laws in regard to possesion/use other than keeping it out of reach of minors.
Obviously you can't physically import anything that is refused classification, or is unclassified and likely to be refused classification because customs are well within their right to seize the material, so I suppose it all comes down to whether downloading (ignoring international copyright law), or purchasing overseas/downloading is considered importing. Clarification in regards to whether even using the Internet to access international websites is considered importing would be good to know as well.
I'm just not sure how to find this information.