Two very dumb things:

• insisting on "verify you're oved 18" even for Steam accounts are over 18 years old.
• insisting on credit cards, when most Aussies don't have one. We use debit cards because we have money, why use credit?

I now know a few people in their 40s who are wondering if they should sign up for unwanted credit cards just so they can keep buying games on Steam.

100% malicious compliance. Steam never likes being told what to do by anyone - users, devs, governments.

Edit:.. Aaand it's in breech of the codes. So.. I guess the ACCC will have to take Valve to court again.

The code terms mandate that age checks must be 'robust, reliable and fair'. Forcing people to get credit card accounts would not meet the code. It explicitly states "in order for age checks to be fair, service providers should offer more than one method of age checks to users".