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• Basic format to reference legislation and cases
• Referencing legislation and cases: Examples

Basic format to reference legislation and cases

The APA style guide refers readers wishing to reference legal materials to The Bluebook: A uniform system of citation; however, The Bluebook is unsuitable for use in Australia.  The fourth edition of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC4) should be used for reference list entries for Australian and international legal materials.  The examples in this guide are based on AGLC4 style.  For more examples, please see our AGLC4 guide.

In text references must adhere to APA7 style.  Most references should follow the format for works without an author.
 

Please note: Students studying Law units at VU should use the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC).

The basics of a reference list entry for an Act:

• Short Title of Act (in italics).
• Year (in italics).
• Jurisdiction abbreviation (in round brackets).
• The first line of each citation is left adjusted. Every subsequent line is indented 5-7 spaces.

Example: Yarra River Protection (Wilip-Gin Birrarung Murron) Act 2017 (Vic)

The basics of a reference list entry for a Bill:

• Short title of bill (no italics).
• Year (no italics).
• Jurisdiction abbreviation (in round brackets).
• The first line of each citation is left adjusted. Every subsequent line is indented 5-7 spaces.

Example: Disability Services Safeguards Bill 2018 (Vic)

The basics for a reference list entry for a Case:

• Case name (in italics).
• Year (in round brackets).
• Volume number.
• Law report abbreviation.
• First page number.
• The first line of each citation is left adjusted. Every subsequent line is indented 5-7 spaces.

Example: Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v Kumar (2017) 260 CLR 367