8. Legislation and legal authorities
- Legislation and Legal authorities (cases) are only included in a list of references if they are important to the understanding of the work (listed separately under the subheadings ‘Legislation’ and ‘Legal Authorities’).
- The title of legislation should be cited exactly. Neither spelling nor capitalisation should be altered to suit the referencing style. Articles (a, an or the) should not be omitted.
- Legislation viewed in an annotated legislation textbook is cited in Legislation format, not Book format, unless referring to the editorial commentary/analysis, rather than the legislative provision.
- The following examples are for the Australian jurisdiction only.
Use the following Australian jurisdiction abbreviations:
| Jurisdiction |
Abbreviation |
| Commonwealth |
Cwlth |
| Australian Capital Territory |
ACT |
| New South Wales |
NSW |
| Northern Territory |
NT |
| Queensland |
Qld |
| South Australia |
SA |
| Tasmania |
Tas |
| Victoria |
Vic |
| Western Australia |
WA |
| 1. LEGISLATION: INCLUDES ACTS AND BILLS |
|
a) Acts – italicise the title of the Act.
b) Bills – do not italicise the title.
|
| In-text |
|
a) Title of the Act Year
b) Title of Bill Year
Example:
a) The Act stipulates… (Copyright Act 1968).
b) Efforts to legislate against… (Anti-terrorism Bill 2004).
|
| Reference |
|
a) Title of the Act Year (Jurisdiction)
b) Title of the Bill Year (Legislative Body)
Examples:
a) Copyright Act 1968 (Cwlth)
b) Anti-terrorism Bill 2004 (House of Representatives)
|
| 2. LEGAL AUTHORITIES (CASES) |
- In the citation of criminal cases in which the Crown is the prosecutor, “R” is used.
R v. Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (1980) 144 CLR 13
- However, if the Crown is the respondent in a criminal appeal, the order is reversed and The Queen given in full.
Pearce v. The Queen (1998) 194 CLR 610
- On first mention, the authority should always be cited in full. If there is a commonly known abbreviated form or name for the case, this can be given in parentheses and used in subsequent citations.
Mabo v. The State of Queensland (1992) 175 CLR 1 (the Aboriginal Land Rights Case)
|
| In-text |
|
(Case Party v. Case Party (Year) Reference Details Volume Number at Page No.)
Example:
Precedent exists for… (Carey v. Price (2005) 132 ALR 255).
In McDonald’s Corporation v. Joburgers Drive-Inn Restaurant (Pty) Ltd (1996) 36 IPR 11 at 20, Joburgers argued that…
|
| Reference |
| Case Party v. Case Party (Year) Reference Details Volume Number at Page No
Example:
Carey v. Price (2005) 132 ALR 255.
The Commonwealth v. The State of Tasmania (1983) 158 CLR 1; (1983) 57 ALJR 450; (1983) 46 ALR 625 (the Tasmanian Dam Case).
McDonald’s Corporation v. Joburgers Drive-Inn Restaurant (Pty) Ltd (1996) 36 IPR 11 at 20. |
