Citing Legislation

When referring to legislation, the citation should consist of:

• the short title of the Act or Regulation (if there is no short title, the long title) - in italics
• the year - in italics or underlined
• the recognised abbreviation of the relevant jurisdiction - in parentheses
• the pinpoint reference to the relevant section or subsection - if applicable.

Example: Child Protection Act 1999 (Qld) s 5B(a)

Legislation Title

Acts of Parliament will often have both a short title and long title. The long title of an Act will state the purpose of the Act. For instance, for the Crimes At Sea Act 2001 the long title is "An Act to give effect to a cooperative scheme for dealing with crimes at sea, and for other purposes." You will find the long title of the Act directly after the table of contents of the Act.

Year

When citing an Act or Regulation always follow the Act title with the year that the Act was passed or promulgated.

Abbreviation of Jurisdiction

You can find the complete list of abbreviations for Australian jurisdictions in 3.1.3 Jurisdiction of the AGLC (3rd ed.)

Pinpoint Reference

To cite a particular part, section or subsection of legislation, use a pinpoint reference. For instance, Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) s 27(a). Where you are referring to a legislative provision in the text of your work, you should write as you would speak. For example, "Section 58 of the Trusts Act 1973 (Qld) states that ..."

Task: Try it Yourself!