Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th Edition (AGLC4)
The AGLC4 referencing style uses footnotes and a bibliography and is widely used by law professionals. It is the standard style guide used by Swinburne Law School for assessment purposes.
The Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th edition (AGLC4) is published and distributed by the Melbourne University Law Review Association Inc., in collaboration with the Melbourne Journal of International Law Inc. This is the standard for citation of information sources used for assessment purposes within Swinburne Law School.
Learn how to reference case law, legislation, books, articles, online sources and audio-visual material using the AGLC4 style guide. Always check with your lecturer that this is the citation style guide required for your unit.
AGLC4 quick guide
Download a printable PDF with referencing examples of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th edition style guide.
AGLC4 referencing style introduction
This video introduces you to legal citation using the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th edition (AGLC4).
AGLC4 referencing style: Footnotes
This video shows you how to cite information sources as footnotes using the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th edition (AGLC4).
Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th Edition style guidelines
Case law
Case name | Year | Volume | Report series | Starting page |
---|---|---|---|---|
Village Films Pty Ltd v iiNet Ltd | (2012) | 286 | ALR | 466 |
Party names are italicised
Where parties are individuals, given names and initials are omitted
Where a party is a business corporation or firm, abbreviations such as Co (company), Ltd (Limited), and Pty (proprietary) are used
Where the Crown is the first named party, Rex (the ‘King’) or Regina (the ‘Queen’) is abbreviated to ‘R’
Where the Crown is the respondent ‘The King’ or ‘The Queen’ is written in full
Law report series are abbreviated
The first page of the case should appear after the series details
A full stop is used at the end of a footnote
A full stop is not used in a bibliography
Examples
Individual party names
Smith v Smith (1948) 2 ALR 475
Company party names
Village Films Pty Ltd v iiNet Ltd (2012) 286 ALR 466
The Crown as first party
R v Milat (2005) 157 A Crim R 565
The Crown as respondent
Smith v The Queen [2010] NSWCCA 325
Entry in footnote
Walton v Gardiner (1993) 112 ALR 289.
Entry in bibliography
Walton v Gardiner (1993) 112 ALR 289
Law report abbreviations:
- Legal abbreviations can be accessed via the Cardiff University database or the Monash University website.
In text references:
An ‘in text’ reference usually cites the case, text or reference in the body of an essay or report
A footnote should immediately follow the portion of text which it is relevant to
It should also follow directly after any relevant punctuation (i.e. a full stop or comma)
A full stop should appear at the end of all footnotes citing case law
Example
“Recent developments in Australian law following the decision of the High Court in IceTV Pty Ltd v Network Nine Australia Pty Ltd (IceTV)¹ illustrate a fundamental shift in the approach of courts regarding the importance and form of authorship.”
Pinpoint references:
A pinpoint reference is a reference to a specific page, paragraph or other section of a decision
A pinpoint reference to a page should appear as a number — do not use ‘p’ or ‘pg’
A pinpoint reference to a paragraph should appear as a number in square brackets
Example of pinpoint reference to a page
Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd and Others v Sharman License Holdings Ltd and Others (2005) 220 ALR 1, 3.
Example of a pinpoint reference to a paragraph
Roadshow Films Pty Ltd v iiNet Ltd, (2012) 286 ALR 466, 488 [95]
Case name | [Year] | Court | Judgment no. |
---|---|---|---|
Rowland v Alfred Health | [2014] | FCA | 2 |
Unreported decisions utilise a ‘medium neutral citation’ that does not depend on a publisher or medium
The party names are listed first and italicised
The year is enclosed in square brackets “[ ]”
Court identifiers are abbreviated. For example, FCA is used for Federal Court of Australia and HCA for the High Court of Australia
Judgment numbers are commonly used, these are applied by the relevant court
Unreported decisions with a medium neutral citation do not require the full date
A full stop is used at the end of a footnote
A full stop is not used in a bibliography
Examples
Individual party names
Stanford v Stanford [2012] HCA 52
Company party names
Trusted Cloud Pty Ltd v Core Desktop Pty Ltd [2015] FCA 33
The Crown as the first party
R v Coulter [2014] VSC 42
The Crown as respondent
Picone v The Queen [2015] VSCA 5
Entry in footnote
R v Giles [2014] VSC 210.
Entry in bibliography
Tauaifaga v TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd [2013] NSWSC 8
In text references:
An ‘in text’ reference usually cites the case, text or reference in the body of an essay or report
A footnote should immediately follow the portion of text which it is relevant to
It should also follow directly after any relevant punctuation (i.e. a full stop or comma)
A full stop should appear at the end of all footnotes citing case law
Example
“Recent developments in Australian law following the decision of the High Court in IceTV Pty Ltd v Network Nine Australia Pty Ltd (IceTV)¹ illustrate a fundamental shift in the approach of courts regarding the importance and form of authorship.”
Pinpoint references:
A pinpoint reference is a reference to a specific page, paragraph or other section of a decision
A pinpoint reference to a page should appear as a number — do not use ‘p’ or ‘pg’
A pinpoint reference to a paragraph should appear as a number in square brackets
Example of pinpoint reference to a page
Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd and Others v Sharman License Holdings Ltd and Others (2005) 220 ALR 1, 3.
Example of a pinpoint reference to a paragraph
Roadshow Films Pty Ltd v iiNet Ltd, (2012) 286 ALR 466, 488 [95]
Legislation
Title | Year | Jurisdiction | Pinpoint |
---|---|---|---|
Copyright Act | 1968 | (Cth) | s 1 |
Both the title of the act and the year in which the act was passed appear in italics
The jurisdiction is abbreviated and within parentheses ‘( )’
Regulations, rules and orders should be cited in the same manner as primary legislation: title; year; jurisdiction (in parentheses)
Both the title of the act and the year in which the regulation was passed appear in italics
Pinpoint references
A pinpoint reference is a reference to a specific page, paragraph or other section of an act, or regulation
Pinpoint references should appear as abbreviations and a number separated by a space
Where referencing a section, separate the relevant reference with a space with an ‘s’ but do not use a full stop
Example
Climate Change Act 2010 (Vic) pt 3 div 2 s 16
Abbreviations for Australian jurisdictions:
Commonwealth — Cth
Australian Capital Territory — ACT
New South Wales — NSW
Northern Territory — NT
Queensland — QLD
South Australia — SA
Tasmania — Tas
Victoria — Vic
Western Australia — WA
Book
Author | Chapter title | in Author(s) (eds) | Title | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
Robert G Picard, | 'Economic approaches to media policy' | in Robin Mansell and Mark Roby (eds) | The Handbook of Global Media and Communication Policy, | (Blackwell Publishing, 2011) |
When citing chapters in a book list the author and enclose the title of the chapter in single inverted commas — do not italicise the title
Details of the book follow the same conventions for books with a single or multiple authors
Entry in bibliography
When the citation appears in a bibliography, list the surname first. Sources should be listed in alphabetical order by surname.
Picard, Robert G, 'Economic approaches to media policy' in Robin Mansell and Mark Roby (eds), The Handbook of Global Media and Communication Policy, (Blackwell Publishing, 2011)
Notes for ebooks:
Many books appear in both printed and online versions
If this is the case, then use the same conventions for citing a printed text
Use these conventions even if you sourced the book online
Article
Author | Title | Newspaper | (Place) | Date | Pinpoint |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laura Tingle | ‘Norway fund ponders dumping coal’, | The Australian Financial Review, | (Sydney) | 24 February 2015, | 8 |
- The title of the article is not italicised, and placed within single quotation marks
- The title of the newspaper is italicised
- The place of publication is in parentheses
- The full date is noted
Entry in bibliography
When the citation appears in a bibliography, list the surname first. Sources should be listed in alphabetical order by surname.
Tingle, Laura, ‘Norway fund ponders dumping coal’, The Australian Financial Review, (Sydney), 24 February 2015, 8
Online source
Author | Title | URL |
---|---|---|
Australian Human Rights Commission, | The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention (2014) | <https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/asylum-seekers-and-refugees/publications/forgotten-children-national-inquiry-children> |
- A source should only be cited like this if it does not exist in published form
- The authors name should be included if available on the web page or document
- The title of the page or document cited should be included in italics after the author’s name
- Where available, the full date of the last update of the page or document should be included
- The name of the general website where the document resides should be included if available
- The web address (URL) should be within ‘< >’ symbols
Example with full date
Australian Academy of Science, Academy warns of climate risk to Australia (13 February 2015) <https://www.science.org.au/news/academy-warns-climate-risks-australia>
Example of source within a general website
Board of Examiners, Admission Requirements (18 February 2010) Council of Legal Information <http://www.lawadmissions.vic.gov.au>
Audio-visual material
Italicised Title | (Directed by Name, Production Company, Year) |
---|---|
A Few Good Men | (Directed by Rob Reiner, Castle Rock Entertainment, 1992) |
- The same convention applies for both film and sound recordings
- List the title first in italics
- Enclose the name of the director, production company and year of the recording in parentheses ‘( )’
- Pinpoint references should be at the point of time of the recording, and appear in the following format — hours:minutes seconds
Example of a pinpoint reference
A Few Good Men (Directed by Rob Reiner, Castle Rock Entertainment, 1992) 1:15:25
Broadcaster | Title of segment | Italicised name of program | Date Month Year | (Name of speaker) |
---|---|---|---|---|
ABC Radio National, | ‘Using evidence obtained in search warrants’, | The Law Report, | 3 February 2015 | (Damian Carrick) |
- List the name of the broadcaster first
- Enclose the title of the segment in single quotation marks
- Italicise the name of the program
- List the full date of the program
- The name of the speaker should be included unless it is otherwise apparent and is in parentheses
- A URL may be included after the speaker’s name where the transcript is available online
- The web address (URL) should be enclosed within ‘< >’ symbols
Example with a URL
ABC Radio National, ‘Using evidence obtained in search warrants’, The Law Report, 3 February 2015, (Damian Carrick) <http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lawreport/surfers-paradise/6028122#transcript>
Why do you need to reference correctly?
Academic integrity refers to presenting academic work in a moral, ethical and honest way. It means using ideas, knowledge and information to develop your own insights, but not presenting someone else's work as your own or trying to gain an unfair advantage. It also means acknowledging the work of others when you include it in your work.
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