I'm glad someone is finally standing up against those guys, heres the news story from Gamespot. 
 

Australia's Classification Board has developed a reputation in recent years for its draconian stance on violence in games. This week, the Classification Board effectively banned Sega and Rebellion's Aliens vs. Predator by refusing to grant it an MA 15+ rating, the highest allowable for games. According to the board's decision, AVP's depiction of "explicit decapitation and dismemberment as well as locational damage" was a primary factor for the game's ban.

Australia's Classification Board has decided to not let adults Down Under see what's about to happen next.

Many developers, including Valve and Bethesda, opt to censor their products by toning down the violence to adhere to the Classification Board's standards. However, Rebellion has decided to simply not release AVP in the region. In a statement, the UK-based studio noted that it was upset that the game was refused classification but said that it will not be altering the game to make it acceptable by the Classification Board's standards.

"Rebellion is disappointed that its upcoming title Aliens vs. Predator has been banned in Australia," Rebellion said. "However, as we understand the law in that country, the authorities had no choice as we agree strongly that our game is not suitable for game players who are not adults."

"The content of AVP is based on some of the most innovative and iconic horror movies, and as such we wanted to create a title that was true to the source material. It is for adults, and it is bloody and frightening, that was our intent. We will not be releasing a sanitized or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices."

Aliens vs. Predator is due to arrive elsewhere in the world this February for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

Can't Aussies just buy games online and have them shipped to their homes to get around the ban?

Get a PS3 and import - problem overcome.   It will also be cheaper.
 
I agree they shouldn't modify it.  If more did the same thing, a groundswell of anger would arise in the public, but at the moment no-one cares as they just get edited.  Then again, our press isn't exactly gamer friendly.  Welcome to the land of the marginalised  :-(

australians are going to miss the end game rap of AVP where human & predators curse & aliens make noise./sarcasm

Good for them. That last quote made me chuckle. You can feel the facetiousness slipping through the cracks. Sucks, though, for the casual gamer adults that might have only bought the game if they were to see it on a store shelf.

Sadly, them not changing their game isn't going to do anything, not that that means they should change it. I feel like I've said this to people hundreds of times but the problem has nothing to do with the rating board itself. They looked at the game and have more or less said "This has stuff in it that should make it an R rated game". Which, from what I can tell here, is the truth. They're just doing their job. The problem is that we don't have an R rating in Australia. Because of this the board can't classify it and the game cannot be made commercially available within the country. Which, you know, fucking sucks. Why don't we have an R rating? Because when rating games was first introduced the people setting it up assumed there would be no need for it. I mean of course! Games are for kids, right? To be fair that idea at the time wasn't nearly as completely fucking moronic as it is now. It still was really stupid though. Why don't we have a R rating yet? I mean it can't be that hard to make one now that there is a crystal clear need for it? Well in all the discussions that have been had no one seems to have any serious issue with making an R rating for games. With one exception. South Australia Attorney General Michael Atkinson has more or less publicly stated that he will fight tooth and nail to prevent an R rating from being accepted and seeing that his is one of the signatures needed for such a decision to be made, he has an easy time doing just that. Why is he so against an R rating? Well the closest to a coherent argument I have heard from the guy roughly amounts to "Its for the kids! You know.... The kids. You don't want to poison the minds of the kids, right? right!?" Completely missing that KIDS AREN"T SUPPOSED TO PLAY R RATED GAMES! THATS KIND OF THE POINT OF THE RATING SYSTEM IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE! Why am I yelling at you? You already know this. You are an intelligent human being. Michael Atkinson, however, is not.

This kind of thing needs to happen more otherwise nothing will change.

Games do not get banned in Australia. The board can refuse classification and thus restrict its sale from retail outlets. But the product itself isn't banned. It can be legally obtained and played by ordering online which can often be the cheapest way to buy anyway if a little inconvenient. I am not defending the OFLC on how adult players in this country are disregarded and how game developers treated. But to suggest its being banned is a misnomer.

Eventually if this happens more often retailers will rebel and demand that an R 18+ classification is brought in. Also fuck Michael Atkinson, I hate that cock sucking bastard.

Too bad, it's a great game from what I've played of it. 
 
I will be getting this on 360 and PC. 

Bloody hell. :'(
 
And WTF?  "explicit decapitation and dismemberment as well as locational damage" HELLO? DEAD SPACE ANYONE? THAT PAST ALRIGHT. Fucking arseholes. 

Good to see that they are doing something about it.

The simple fact is, no matter how much anyone complains, nothing is going to change until Atkinson is out of power. Gamers just have to hope that happens within the next decade.

Bravo Rebellion Bravo! That was one of the most well written response to a game being banned over there it won't do anything but it is a step in the right direction.
 
@SolemnOaf:So.. because these kids parents are irresponsible in your eyes they should be punished, your insane I played the Alien game (The FPS) when I was in the single digits and I am not some crazy buffoon there were certain games I wasn't allowed to play but that was more because I had younger sisters and I am talking about being 10-11-12 here and the only one I can even think of was GTA3, as long as you know your kid understands real from fantasy than it is ok. Now I will admit there are some parents who are irresponsible for the stuff they let there kids do but no one should be PUNISHED for playing a game.

This again?! I thought Aussies were pretty much with this kind of bullshit.

" Bravo Rebellion Bravo! That was one of the most well written response to a game being banned over there it won't do anything but it is a step in the right direction. "

Is teletubbies allowed in Australia? XD

These are the guys who developed Rogue Warrior right?  Why does anyone have any faith in this game?

"The content of AVP is based on some of the most innovative and iconic horror movies, and as such we wanted to create a title that was true to the source material. It is for adults, and it is bloody and frightening, that was our intent. We will not be releasing a sanitized or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices."

" These are the guys who developed Rogue Warrior right?  Why does anyone have any faith in this game? "

"We will not be releasing a sanitized or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices."

" @EvilTwin said:

" These are the guys who developed Rogue Warrior right?  Why does anyone have any faith in this game? "

This?  And this one looks just as good. Cause that game was fucking awesome.
http://www.giantbomb.com/aliens-versus-predator/61-7140/
"

Cool, I guess. 
 
@EvilTwin: Rebellion developed the original AvP.  They won't muck this one up.  As for Rogue Warrior, I'm assuming you were unaware that they took over work on Rogue Warrior that Zombie Studios was developing with UE3 and then had to use their own Asura engine to finish that game up?  Right, so...better research next time will probably lead to the correct assumptions about why Rogue Warrior was such a shit game.

" Cool, I guess. 
 
@EvilTwin: Rebellion developed the original AvP.  They won't muck this one up.  As for Rogue Warrior, I'm assuming you were unaware that they took over work on Rogue Warrior that Zombie Studios was developing with UE3 and then had to use their own Asura engine to finish that game up?  Right, so...better research next time will probably lead to the correct assumptions about why Rogue Warrior was such a shit game. "

"@EvilTwin: Rogue Warrior was actually the property rights of Bethesda, who commissioned in Zombie Studios to make it.  Once Zombie was off the project, they commissioned the work over to Rebellion.  The only thing that pisses me off about all that...is it means that AvP got delayed because of Demo Dick's shitty game."

" @EvilTwin: Also, what did you read of those reviews, or did you just look at the Metacritics and say "average numbers are average"?"

" @EvilTwin: Sorry...but I don't see your skepticism as being healthy or even justified.  I see your skepticism being based on one game that you saw a Quick Look for without any history on, as well as some Metacritic scores."

That means people will be importing that game in Australia individually, and the Australian government will be getting less money on duties, if this was the norm maybe they would change their mind about this kind of restrictions. I think Rebellion made the right choice.

" @Evilsbane: If parents can be punished for allowing or encouraging other behavior detrimental to a child's development such as drinking, gambling, exposing them to drug use, etc. than allowing that child to interact with media they're vastly underage for is little different.  A six or seven year-old child should not be able to play an M rated game like Left4Dead, and if the parents are unable or unwilling to adhere to the ratings guidelines then the ability to make that decision should be removed from them and they should incur a penalty for their negligent behavior.  Not so unreasonable, it's a matter of cultural responsibility. "