APA 7th Edition Style Guide: Australian legal resources

APA 7^th edition style guidelines for referencing Australian legal resources

The manual for APA style, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, does not include referencing examples of Australian legal material.  

The reference list examples provided here are based on the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4^th edition (AGLC4).  In-text citations follow the standard APA format. 

Jurisdiction (geographic area) is abbreviated: Commonwealth (Cth), Victoria (Vic), New South Wales (NSW), Tasmania (Tas), Queensland (Qld), South Australia (SA), Western Australia (WA), Northern Territory (NT), Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

When a resource (such as an act, bill, etc.) has a short and long title, cite the short title.

Act

In-text citation 
Short title of the legislation (in italics), year (in italics), jurisdiction (abbreviated), subdivision number (if relevant). Specify the jurisdiction in the first citation but it is not required in subsequent citations. 

For example:

In the Victorian mental health system advance statements can be made to document an individual’s treatment preferences in the event they become a patient (Mental Health Act 2014 (Vic), s. 28).

Reference list 
Short title of the act (in italics), year (in italics), jurisdiction (abbreviated), URL (if retrieved from a website)

For example: 

Mental Health Act 2014 (Vic)

Bill

Bills are treated as unpublished works and the title is not italicised.

In-text citation 
Short title of the bill, year, jurisdiction (abbreviated), subdivision number (if relevant)

For example:

As outlined in the Liability for Climate Change Commonwealth Bill (2020, s. 15). 

Reference list 
Short title of the bill, year, jurisdiction (abbreviated), subdivision number (if relevant), URL (if retrieved from a website)

For example: 

Liability for Climate Change Bill 2020 (Cth). https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2020B00019

Legal case

Law reports can be organised by volume number or by year.  Round brackets enclose the year of reports organised by volume numbers. Square brackets enclose the year of reports organised by year. Check the source you used to ensure your brackets match.

In-text citation 
Title of the case (in italics), year (in brackets). Specify the year in the first citation but it is not required in subsequent citations.

For example: 

Furthermore, in the case of Breen v Williams (1995), this was disputed.

Reference list 
Title of the case (in italics), year (in brackets), volume number, law report abbreviation, URL (if retrieved from a website)

For example: 

Breen v Williams (1999) 186 CLR