The official published manual for AGLC4 is:
The Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th edition (AGLC4) is a footnoting style. Footnote numbers are positioned after punctuation and appear at the end of each page of your document. Use a full stop at the end of each footnote. Include a pinpoint reference where appropriate, e.g., the specific page, paragraph or section. The footnoting format for major reference types using AGLC4 are as follows:
Legislation (Statutes)
Short Title of the Act Year (Jurisdiction) Pinpoint.
Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 65.
Cases
Reported judgment
Case name [(Year)] Volume Report Series Abbreviation Starting Page, Pinpoint.
Al-Kateb v Godwin (2004) 219 CLR 562, 564.
Unreported judgement / Medium neutral citation
Case name [Year] Unique Court Identifier Judgment Number [Pinpoint].
Rinehart v Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd [2015] NSWSC 239, [44].
Book
Author's First Name or Initial(s), Surname, Title of book, (Publisher, Edition, Year) Pinpoint
Brendan Sweeney, Jennifer O'Reilly and Andrew Coleman, Law in Commerce (LexisNexis Butterworths, 6th ed, 2016) 38.
If there are 4 or more authors, use 'et al'.
Journal article
Use the full title of the journal, omitting any initial The at the start of the journal title. Both the volume number and issue number should be included. The issue number should follow the number in parentheses.
Author's First Name Surname, 'Title of article' ({Year}) Volume (Issue) Journal Name Starting page, Pinpoint.
Belinda Bennett, Terry Carney and Caroline Saint, 'Swine Flu, Doctors and Pandemics: Is there a Duty to Treat during a Pandemic?' (2010) 17(5) Journal of Law and Medicine 736, 738.
Legal Encyclopedia
Always use the date of the last update when available, otherwise use the date of retrieval.
Publisher, Title of Encyclopedia, Volume Number (at Full Date) Title Number Name of Title, 'Chapter Number Name of Chapter' [Paragraph].
LexisNexis, Halsbury's laws of Australia, vol 13 (at 17 Nov 2009) 195 Evidence, '2 Proof of facts' [195-805].
Looseleaf service
Publisher, Title, Volume Number (at most recent service number for that pinpoint) Pinpoint.
LexisNexis Butterworths, Criminal Practice and Procedure NSW, vol.1 (at update 62) [6-200].
Internet material / websites
Only cite as a web page if the information has not been published in print format. Use the date of last update if available, otherwise use the date of creation. If the author's name and the website name are the same, do not include the website name.
Author's first name Surname, Document title (Full date) Website name <URL>.
World Health Organization, 10 facts about women's health (Feb 2009) < http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/women/en/index.html >.
A bibliography must list all sources that were used, not only those referred to in the text and footnotes. Sources should be listed alphabetically under each heading. Full stops should not follow the citation. AGLC recommends dividing your bibliography into the following divisions:
Where there is one author, the author's first name and surname should be inverted and separated by a comma. When there are two or more authors, only the first author's name and surname should be inverted.
Example of an article: Bennett, Belinda, Terry Carney and Caroline Saint, 'Swine flu, doctors and pandemics : is there a duty to treat during a pandemic?' (2010) 17 Journal of Law and Medicine 736
Example of a book: Hepburn, Samantha, Australian property law: cases, materials and analysis (Lexisnexis Butterworths, 2008)
Example of a report: House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family, Community, Housing and Youth, Parliament of Australia, Housing the homeless: report on the inquiry into homelessness legislation (2009)
Use only surnames, don't use given names or initials. Only cite the first plaintiff and defendent. Do not use '& Anor' or '& Ors.' Do not include punctuation in abbreviations.
A reported version of a case should always be cited in preference to an unreported version. Authorised report series should be used when available. Generalist (unauthorised) report series should be cited in preference to subject specific (unauthorised) report series.
Example of a reported case: Butler v Fairclough (1917) 23 CLR 78
Example of an unreported case (medium neutral citation): British American Tobacco Australia Services Limited v Laurie [2011] HCA 2 (9 February 2011)
Cite the short title of the Act and the year in which the Act was originally passed in italics. Citations of an Act refer to that Act as amended (and consolidated). Do not italicise the title and year of a bill. Delegated legislation (for example, regulations, rules and orders) should be cited in the same way as an Act.
Example of a bill: Higher Education Support Amendment (No 1) Bill 2011 (Cth)
Example of an act: Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW)
A citation of a treaty should include the treaty title in italics as it appears on the first page of the treaty. For multilateral treaties with more than three signaturies, the names of states parties should not be included after the title.
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading treatment or Punishment, opened for signature 10 December 1984, 1465 UNTS 85 (entered into force 26 June 1987)
See the complete guide for material covered by this division, which includes Law Reform Commission Reports, Legal Encyclopedias, Looseleaf services, Government documents, such as Parliamentary Debates and Theses.
It also covers Internet Materials.
Only cite a web page when it doesn't exist in print. The full date of the last update should be included, if available, otherwise use the date of creation.
World Health Organization, Violence against Women: A Priority Health Issue (1997) <http://www.who.int/gender/violence/vawpriority/en/>
Watch this AGLC4: Ten principles video by UTS outlining how to cite cases and legislation using this style.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that this website may contain images, voices and names of people who have died.
The University of Sydney Library acknowledges that its facilities sit on the ancestral lands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who have for thousands of generations exchanged knowledge for the benefit of all. Learn more
