Legislative materials
Chapter 3: Legislative Materials
These rules apply to Australian sources. For information on citing international or foreign legislative materials, See Part IV: International Materials; See Part V: Foreign Domestic Materials
Acts format and examples
See 3.1
- Place the Act's title and year in italics
- Use the short title of an Act as its title
- Only use an Act's long title if it does not contain a short title
- Note that the year forms part of an Act's title
Australian Constitutions, See 3.6
- The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia may be cited as the Australian Constitution or the Commonwealth Constitution. No year or jurisdiction abbreviation is needed
- Constitutions of the Australian states and territories should be cited as normal Acts
Examples
Australian Constitution.
Constitution of Queensland 2001 (Qld).
Individual Parts of Legislative Materials, See 3.1.7
- A short title may be given to a specific portion of an Act, Bill or delegated legislation
Examples
Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) sch 1 ('Criminal Code').
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) sch 2 ('Australian Consumer Law').
See 3.1.3
- The following abbreviations should be used for Australian jurisdictions
Jurisdiction |
Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| 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 |
Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld). [no pinpoint]
Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) s 23. [pinpointing to a section]
Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) s 23(1). [pinpointing to section 23, subsection 1]
Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) s 23(1)(a). [pinpointing to section 23, subsection 1, subsection a]
Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) ss 24-9. [pinpointing to a span of sections, 24 through to 29]
Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) ss 24, 29. [pinpointing to sections 24 and 29, but not 25, 26, 27 or 28]
Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). [no pinpoint]
Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 63B. [pinpointing to a section that includes both a number and letter]
Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 63B(a). [pinpointing to section 63B, subsection a]
Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) ss 63B(a)-(e). [pinpointing to a span of subsections, 63B(a) through to 63B(e)]
Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) ss 63B(a), (e). [pinpointing to subsections 63B(a) and 63B(e), but not 63B(b), (c) or (d)]
Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) pt V div 2. [pinpointing to a part and division]
Pinpoints
Pinpoint references, See 3.1.4
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Pinpoints come after the jurisdiction and are not preceded by a comma
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Pinpoints usually comprise an abbreviation of a designation (such as section 's', part 'pt' or schedule 'sch') and a number. For a table of designations and their abbreviations, See 3.1.4 and 3.4
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Place a space between the designation abbreviation and the number
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Place numbered or lettered subsections in brackets after the section number, without a space. Note that some sections include letters as part of the section number, these should appear as they do in the Act.
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When pinpointing to a section and a subsection (or paragraph and a sub-paragraph etc), the abbreviation of the highest level should be used
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Example: Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) s 28(1). [Not sub-s 28(1)]
-
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Where multiple combinations of an abbreviation and number are needed to form one pinpoint reference, don't place a comma between each abbreviation-number combination
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Example: Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) pt V div 2. [Not pt V, div 2]
-
Definitions, See 3.1.6
- For unnumbered definitions in legislative materials, include (definition of 'defined term') after the pinpoint
- Example: Property Law Act 1958 (Vic) s 3 (definition of 'legal practitioner').
- If definitions are numbered, cite as a normal section of an Act
- Example: Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT) s 5.
See 3.1.4
- Pinpoint references should use the following abbreviations in the text and in citations, except where the pinpoint begins a sentence:
Designation |
Abbreviation |
Plural |
Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appendix | app | Appendices | apps |
| Article | art | Articles | arts |
| Chapter | ch | Chapters | chs |
| Clause | cl | Clauses | cls |
| Division | div | Division | divs |
| Paragraph | para | Paragraphs | paras |
| Part | pt | Parts | pts |
| Schedule | sch | Schedules | schs |
| Section | s | Sections | ss |
| Sub-clause | sub-cl | Sub-clauses | sub-cls |
| Subdivision | sub-div | Subdivisions | sub-divs |
| Sub-paragraph | sub-para | Sub-paragraphs | sub-paras |
| Subsection | sub-s | Subsection | sub-ss |
See 3.4
- These additional abbreviations may be used for pinpointing delegated legislation
Designation |
Abbreviation |
Plural |
Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order | ord | Orders | ords |
| Regulation | reg | Regulations | regs |
| Rule | r | Rules | rr |
| Sub-regulation | sub-reg | Sub-regulation | sub-regs |
| Sub-rule | sub-r | Sub-rules | sub-rr |
Legislative materials format and examples
Bills, See 3.2
- Bills are cited in the same style as Acts, except that you do not italicise the title and year.
Delegated legislation, See 3.4
- Delegated legislation (eg regulations, rules and orders) are cited in the same style as Acts.
Examples
Refugee Protection Bill 2018 (Cth). [Bill]
Right to Information Bill 2009 (Qld). [Bill]
Right to Information Regulation 2009 (Qld). [delegated legislation]
Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld). [delegated legislation]
High Court Rules 2004 (Cth). [delegated legislation]
Refer to Acts/statutes for pinpoint examples.
See 3.7
- Explanatory Memoranda (EM) can be called Explanatory Notes or Explanatory Statements in some jurisdictions. Use whichever version appears on the document.
- Pinpoints should be to pages, or pages and paragraphs.
Examples
Explanatory Memorandum, Freedom to Marry Bill 2016 (Cth).
Explanatory Notes, Right to Information Bill 2009 (Qld).
Explanatory Statement, Human Rights Bill 2003 (ACT).
See 3.9
Gazettes, See 3.9.1
Orders and rulings of government instrumentalities and officers (ASIC class orders, taxation rulings, etc.), See 3.9.2
Legislation delegated to non-government entities (ASX listing rules, professional conduct rules, etc.), See 3.9.3
Issuing body, | Title | (at Full date) | Pinpoint.
Court practice directions and practice notes, See 3.9.4
Published in a report series
Not Published in a report series
* Where 'X' is the Gazette or Practice direction/note number.