AGLC
AGLC
General style notes
Before selecting a referencing style check with your tutor, lecturer or supervisor for the style preferred by the School or Department.
Introduction to the style
The following style notes provide a brief introduction to the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th Edition (AGLC 4). AGLC is commonly used as the legal citation standard in Australia.
AGLC 4 is a footnote referencing system.
AGLC 4 is divided into five parts:
- Part 1: General rules (covering topics such as how to deal with subsequent references (rule 1.4) quotations (rule 1.5), and punctuation (rule 1.6)
- Part 2: Domestic sources (cases in chapter 2, legislation in chapter 3)
- Part 3: Secondary sources (such as general rules for citing secondary sources in chapter 4 and discussed below, journal articles in chapter 5, books in chapter 6, and more).
- Part 4: International materials
- Part 5: Foreign domestic materials (citing the laws of selected countries other than Australia)
The AGLC does not have a rule for every type of material, or rules for every foreign jurisdiction. If you need to cite a source that isn’t covered, you may need to adapt an existing rule or use your best judgment to provide a reference that helps your reader locate the source.
Access to the full style manual
This guide is based on the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th Edition by Melbourne University Law Review Association and Melbourne Journal of International Law.
The full style manual is available as a free digital PDF copy. Print copies are available from the University of Melbourne library. Consult the official manual for more information.
General rules
Interim guidance from the editors of the Melbourne University of Law Review is to treat references from GenAI text (including ChatGPT) as Written Correspondence, broadly following rule 7.12 of AGLC.
Pay close attention to the general rules in part 1 and the general rules for citing secondary sources at the start of part 4. Many of the general rules found in these parts are cross-referenced in rules for citing specific sources. For example, the general rules for citing secondary sources in chapter 4 cover:
- rules about citing authors’ and editors’ names including how to deal with post-nominals and honorific titles;
how to cite multiple authors; - publications authored by a body such as a government department or non-governmental organisation;
- citing judicial officers and former judicial officers, citing judges written judgments (curially), and citing judges writing in publications such as law reviews (extra-curially)
- how to cite titles, including punctuation, capitalisation, subtitles and italicisation, and rules for short titles;
- the inclusion of URLs and archived URLs using permalink
Subsequent references
Refer to rules 1.4 to 1.4.4 for details.
- Use Ibid when referring to the same source as the immediately preceding footnote. You can add a new pinpoint reference if you’re not citing the exact same page or paragraph as the footnote above.
- When citing a reference that has been used earlier in the document, use a shortened form of the source along with the footnote number where it first appeared.
- For cases and legislation, use a short title. You must add this short title to the end of your original reference.
- For most secondary sources, use the author’s surname. When this isn’t suitable, either because you are citing many works from the same author, or the work was written by a body or group, you can create a short title.
Example
[1] Bruce Oswald, 'The Force Intervention Brigade and UN Peace Operations: Some Legal Issues' in Jeremy Farrall and Hilary Charlesworth (eds), Strengthening the Rule of Law Through the UN Security Council (Routledge, 2016) 239, 248.
[2] Ibid 250.
[3] Michelle Foster, International Refugee Law and Socio-Economic Rights: Refuge from Deprivation (Cambridge University Press, 2007) 56.
[4] Oswald (n 1) 252.
Pinpoints
A reference to a specific part of a source is called a pinpoint. These should be included in footnotes, but removed from references in your bibliography.
- A reference to a specific part of a source is called a pinpoint. These should be included in footnotes but are removed from references in your bibliography. See 1.1.6 for more information on pinpoint references
- References to specific pages appear as just a number at the end of a footnote. References to paragraphs are contained in square brackets at the end of a reference.
- You can indicate a page or paragraph range by including an en-dash without a space.
- For some types of references (for example, case, journal article, book chapter) you include both the starting page number and the pinpoint number, separated by a comma.
- For legislative materials and some international materials, see the table at 3.1.4 for the full list of abbreviations.
Example
[1] Agius v South Australia [No 6] [2018] FCA 358, [90]–[97] (Mortimer J).
[2] HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Press, 1970) 15.
[3] Alyssia Blackham, 'Judges and Retirement Ages' (2016) 39(3) Melbourne University Law Review 738, 745.
Quotations
Refer to Rule 1.5 for further guidance on quotations.
- Short quotations (3 lines or fewer) should be incorporated into the text using single quotation marks.
- Long quotations (4 lines or more) should be indented from the left margin in a smaller font size and without quotation marks.
- No special punctuation is required to introduce quotations, whether short or long.
Examples
She observed that ‘the threshold for determining that an international organisation has “effective control” over an operation ought to be high’.1
The facts were stated as follows:
In 1988 the Remuneration Tribunal, under the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 (Cth), determined an annual postal allowance of $9,000 for MHRs ... In Brown v West the plaintiff ... [the] shadow Attorney-General, brought an action to challenge the decision of the Minister for Administrative Services ... to increase this entitlement ... to $30,525.2
For questions about using AGLC, email, law-librarians@unimelb.edu.au
Quick guide to AGLC
Download the quick guide to AGLC for a handy guide to the style, with a summary of the main elements and examples of the most commonly cited reference types.
Basic Principles
- AGLC4 is commonly used as the legal citation standard in Australia and is the citation style used at Melbourne Law School. The full style guide is available from the Melbourne Law School.
- AGLC4 is a footnote referencing system. Footnotes are numbered.
- The AGLC does not have a rule for every type of material, or rules for every foreign jurisdiction. If you need to cite a source that isn’t covered, you may need to adapt an existing rule or use your best judgment to provide a reference that helps your reader locate the source.
- Consistency in your citations is essential. Each footnote and bibliography entry should be checked prior to submission.
- A reference to a specific part of a source is called a pinpoint. These should be included in footnotes (Rule 1.1.6) but are removed from references in your bibliography.
- Short quotations (3 lines or fewer) should be incorporated into the text using single quotation marks.
- Long quotations (4 lines or more) should be indented from the left margin in a smaller font size and without quotation marks.
- Use Ibid when referring to the same source as the immediately preceding footnote. You can add a new pinpoint reference if you’re not citing the exact same page or paragraph as the footnote above. (Rule 1.4.3)
- Short titles are a shortened from of the title of a source. If using, you must add this short title to the end of your original reference.
- When a bibliography is required, it should include all the sources you’ve relied upon and consulted, not just those cited in your footnotes.
- Your bibliography should be divided into sections based on material type. Within sections, sources should be listed in alphabetical order. The AGLC includes suggested section headings but irrelevant categories can be removed (or modified) and subcategories can be included when appropriate.
Referencing guide
Books and chapters (RULE 6 & 6.6)
Footnote (Book): First-name Surname, Title of Book (Publisher, Year).
Bibliography (Book): Surname, First-name, Title of Book (Publisher, Year).
Footnote (Chapters): First-name Surname, 'Chapter Title' in Editor First-name Surname (ed/s), Title (Publisher, Year) Starting Page, Pinpoint.
Bibliography (Chapters): Surname, First-name, 'Chapter Title' in Editor First-name Surname (ed/s), Title (Publisher, Year) Starting Page
Journal articles (RULE 5)
Footnote: First-name Surname, 'Article Title' (Year) Volume(Issue) Journal Title Starting Page, Pinpoint.
Bibliography: Surname, First-name, ‘Article Title’ (Year) Volume(Issue) Journal Title Starting page
Cases (RULE 2)
Footnote: Case Name (Year) Volume Law Report Series Abbreviation Starting Page, Pinpoint.
Bibliography: Case Name (Year) Volume Law Report Series Abbreviation Starting Page
Legislation (RULE 3)
Footnote (Acts): Title Year (Jurisdiction Abbreviation) pinpoint.
Bibliography (Acts): Title Year (Jurisdiction Abbreviation)
Footnote (Bills): Title Year (Jurisdiction Abbreviation).
Bibliography (Bills): Title Year (Jurisdiction Abbreviation)
GenAI text (eg ChatGPT)
There are no specific guidelines for citing ChatGPT or other GenAI in AGLC. In the interim, references from AI tools and technologies are being treated as written correspondence. Find more guidance and resources on the AI at Melbourne page.
Before you use GenAI for assessment-related work you must check to ensure that your Subject Coordinator has authorised its use
Format for footnote
Elements, punctuation & capitalisation
Output from [program], [creator] to [recipient], [full date].
Example
1 Output from ChatGPT, OpenAI to John Smith, 23 February 2023.
Discursive text may be used in the footnote to provide information about the prompts used to generate the output, in accordance with rule 1.1.5.
An appendix may be used to provide comprehensive information about the series of prompts used to generate the output.
Example
2 Output from ChatGPT, OpenAI to John Smith, 23 February 2023. The output was generated in response to the prompt, ‘Provide an overview of the creation of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation’: see below Appendix A.
Format for Bibliography
Elements, punctuation and capitalisation
Written correspondence sources are included in the bibliography (see rule 1.13), generally under the heading 'Other'.
[creator] to [recipient], [type of correspondence], [full date]
Example
OpenAI, ChatGPT to John Smith, Output, 23 February 2023
Explore resources to help with reference management and enable you to effectively integrate and cite sources into your writing and assessment tasks .
Books and book chapters
Cases
Style Type
International materials
Journal articles
View Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Legislation
Reports (Government, Company, Industry, Annual)
Format for footnotes
Elements, punctuation & capitalisation
Example
Community Law Australia, Unaffordable and Out of Reach: The Problem of Access to the Australian Legal System (Report, July 2012) 72.
Format for bibliography
Elements, punctuation & capitalisation
Example
Community Law Australia, Unaffordable and Out of Reach: The Problem of Access to the Australian Legal System (Report, July 2012)
Style notes for this reference type
- A URL may be included after the first reference to a source where this would help with retrieval. See AGLC Rules 4.4 and 4.5.
- Authors should be cited in accordance with Rule 4.1. When individual authors are named, the first named author’s names are listed in reverse order for the bibliography.
- When an organisation has authored a work, use the organisation's name where you would name an individual author. If the body is a government department and the jurisdiction isn’t obvious from the department name, you can add jurisdiction details in parentheses.
- Not every report will have all these elements available. See more specific guidance for Parliamentary Papers, Royal Commission Reports and Law Reform Commission publications in Rules 7.1.2 – 7.1.4
- Subsequent references to secondary sources generally use the author’s surname to help identify the source. When author surnames aren’t suitable, or the author is not a person, short titles can be added to initial references to help with cross referencing. See Rules 1.4 and 1.4.4 for guidance on subsequent references and short titles.
View Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
For questions about using AGLC, email law-librarians@unimelb.edu.au
Websites and social media
View Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Non-English language sources
Non-English sources should be cited in accordance with the relevant rules of AGLC for the source type. See AGLC4 Rule 26 for further guidance.
A translation of any non-English citation element should follow that element in square brackets, where appropriate.
Example:
Footnote:
Corte costituzionale [Italian Constitutional Court], No 239, 29 December 1982 reported in [1983] I Il Foro Italiano: Raccolta Generale di Giurisprudenza 2, 4–5.
Änderung der Lebensmittelkennzeichnungsverordnung 1993 [Amendment of the Grocery Labelling Regulation 1993] (Austria) 9 January 2008, BGB1 II, 8/2008.
Jürgen Schwarze, Der Reformvertrag von Lissabon [The Reform Treaty of Lisbon] (Nomos, 2009) 181.
‘Quelques Vices de Procédure’ [Some Procedural Flaws], Le Blog du Droit Européen des Brevets [Blog of European Patent Law] (Blog Post, 13 September 2009) <http://europeanpatentcaselaw.blogspot.com/2009/09/quelques-vices-de-procedure.html>, archived at <http://perma.cc/TL68-HRR9>.
Sample bibliography
Refer to Rule 1.13
- When a bibliography is required, it should include all the sources you’ve relied upon and consulted, not just those cited in your footnotes.
- Your bibliography should be divided into sections based on material type. Within sections, sources should be listed in alphabetical order. The AGLC includes suggested section headings but irrelevant categories can be removed (or modified) and subcategories can be included when appropriate.
- For authored works, the first author’s given names and surnames are inverted and separated by a comma. For institutional names, omit ‘the’ from the beginning if it was initially included.
- All pinpoint references and short titles should be removed. Full stops are not included at the end of bibliography items.
- The headings of the bibliography should be centre aligned.
Example
A Articles/Books/Reports
Community Law Australia, Unaffordable and Out of Reach: The Problem of Access to the Australian Legal System (Report, July 2012)
Deakin, Simon, ‘A new paradigm for labour law?’ (2007) 31(3) Melbourne University Law Review 1161
Foster, Michelle, International Refugee Law and Socio-Economic Rights: Refuge from Deprivation (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
Kleinig, John, 'Paternalism and Personal Integrity’ [1983] (3) Bulletin of the Australian Society of Legal Philosophy 27
Ksentini, Fatma Zohra, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, UN Doc E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/9 (6 July 1994)
Oswald, Bruce 'The Force Intervention Brigade and UN Peace Operations: Some Legal Issues' in Jeremy Farrall and Hilary Charlesworth (eds), Strengthening the Rule of Law Through the UN Security Council (Routledge, 2016)
B Cases
Nydam v The Queen [1977] VR 430
Theophanus v Herald & Weekly Times Ltd (1994) 182 CLR 104
Quarmby v Keating [2009] TASCC 80
C Legislation
Crimes Act 1958 (Vic)
Occupational Health and Safety (Maritime Industry) Act 1993 (Cth)
D Treaties
Agreement regarding the Transfer of the Administration of Justice in the Territories of the Northern Slesvig, Denmark-Germany, signed 12 July 1921, 8 LNTS 397 (entered into force 17 January 1922)
E Other
Brooking Creative Labs, ‘Is America Dreaming?: Understanding Social Mobility’ (YouTube, 20 July 2015) 00:00:00–00:01:00 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG6-UaBECN4>
Clark, Martin ‘Koani v The Queen’, Opinions on High (Blog Post, 18 October 2017) <http://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/opinionsonhigh/2017/10/18/koani-case-page/>, archived at <https://perma.cc/FD2P-M22L>
For questions about using AGLC, email law-librarians@unimelb.edu.au
Further help
If you are unsure about which referencing style to use, check with your tutor, lecturer or supervisor for the style preferred by your Faculty, School or Department.
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