Written Assessment in Law School

Written Assessment in
the Law School

Legal Citation

A guide to Law School requirements for written assessment
and legal citation.
Version: January 2014

Written Assessment in the law School Legal Citation 2014
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Contents
Part 1: Law School requirements for written assessment ............................................................... 4
Why cite? ................................................................................................................................................. 6
Legal citation styles ................................................................................................................................. 7
Footnote style/format ............................................................................................................................. 8
Quotations ............................................................................................................................................... 9
1. Legislative Materials ......................................................................................................... 10
1.1 Acts and regulations .......................................................................................................... 10
1.1.1 Exceptions ................................................................................................................................... 10
1.2 Bills and Explanatory Memoranda .................................................................................................. 11
1.3 Second reading speeches / parliamentary debates (Hansard) ................................................... 11
1.4 Treaties ............................................................................................................................................ 11
1.5 Subsequent citations of legislative material.................................................................................... 12
2. Cases ................................................................................................................................ 14
2.1 Reported cases ............................................................................................................................ 15
2.2 Unreported cases ........................................................................................................................ 15
2.3 Subsequent citations of cases ..................................................................................................... 16
2.3.1 Abbreviated name of case ........................................................................................................... 16
3. Textbooks ......................................................................................................................... 17
3.1 Authored textbooks ..................................................................................................................... 17
3.2 Edited textbooks .......................................................................................................................... 17
3.3 Subsequent citations of textbooks .............................................................................................. 18
3.3.1 Consecutive citations................................................................................................................... 18
3.3.2 Non-consecutive citations ........................................................................................................... 18
3.4 What goes in the footnote .......................................................................................................... 19
4. Journal articles ................................................................................................................. 20
4.1 Subsequent citations of articles .................................................................................................. 21
4.2 What goes in the footnote .......................................................................................................... 21
5. Reports of committees, commissions and government departments .................................. 21
5.1 Law Reform Commission Reports ................................................................................................ 21
5.2 Royal Commission Reports .......................................................................................................... 21
5.3 Government publications ............................................................................................................ 22

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5.4 Government reports/publications accessed from electronic sources ......................................... 22
6. Looseleaf services ............................................................................................................. 22
7. Legal encyclopaedias......................................................................................................... 23
8. Newspaper articles ........................................................................................................... 23
9. Internet sources ................................................................................................................ 24
10. Bibliographies ................................................................................................................... 24
10.1 Articles/Books/Reports (Secondary sources) .............................................................................. 25
10.2 Cases ........................................................................................................................................... 25
10.3 Legislation ................................................................................................................................... 26
10.4 Treaties ........................................................................................................................................ 26
10.5 Other (Secondary Sources) .......................................................................................................... 27

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Part 1: Law School requirements for written assessment

Presentation and submission requirements may differ between units. Unless otherwise
instructed (check the units Study Guide), the following requirements must be complied
with:
Word limits
Written assessment must comply with the prescribed word limit. There is no 10% policy in
the Law School and the word limits are imposed strictly.
If the word limit is exceeded, the examiner will not read beyond the word limit and anything
beyond the word limit will not be taken into account for the grade.
Where there is a word limit and a page limit (eg 1000 words in 3 pages), both must be
complied with. Anything beyond the word or page limit will not be taken into account for
the grade.
Formatting
Times New Roman or Arial font in 12 point
note that Times New Roman is a more compact font if there is a page limit as well as a
word limit
1.5 line spacing
page margins at a minimum of 2.5 cm (left, right, top and bottom)
Other matters
print on one side of the paper only (A4-size white) if handing in a hard copy
number each page
include name and/or student number on each page
staple assignments in the top left corner

Mandatory Forms
Law School Assignment Acknowledgment must be completed and attached to the front
of the assignment (word count of assignment must be noted on this form)
if applicable, the Group Acknowledgment Form must be completed and attached to the
assignment
a copy of the relevant CRA

Submission
The Law School requires that written assessment must be submitted in the following ways,
unless otherwise instructed (refer to the units Study Guide):

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Internal students
Hard copy submitted to Assignment Minder and the electronic version uploaded to the
units Blackboard site (Assessment page) by the due date. The electronic version must be
in Word. See the submission procedures at the Assignment Minder website. Please note
that summer semester units do not require submission of a hard copy through Assignment
Minder. All students submit just an electronic version through the units Blackboard site.
External students
Electronic copy uploaded to the units Blackboard site (Assessment page) by the due date.
The electronic version must be in Word.
Academic writing
For advice on the conventions of academic writing, refer to QUT cite|write, an introductory
guide to citing, referencing and academic writing at QUT.

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Part 2: Legal Citation

Why cite?
At QUT, high academic standards are expected to be maintained in all courses and units. See
Manual of Policies and Procedures at C/5.3 Academic Integrity. This expectation is referred
to in all unit outlines:
Academic Honesty
QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its
qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are
encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider
and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to
academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the
imposition of penalties.

A failure to maintain academic integrity includes plagiarism. For law students, plagiarism
(academic integrity) has very serious consequences as it may prevent admission as a legal
practitioner. In Re AJG [2004] QCA 88 when considering a one off incident of plagiarism, the
court stated: Legal practitioners must exhibit a degree of integrity which engenders in the
Court and in clients unquestioning confidence in the completely honest discharge of their
professional commitments. Cheating ...must preclude our presently being satisfied of this
applicants fitness.
In some of the Australian jurisdictions the admitting authorities require the Law School to
provide a certificate with a statement as to whether or not the university has a record of any
failure to maintain academic integrity by the student seeking admission. This includes the
students law studies or other study.
The following is extracted from cite|write:
When studying at university it is essential to acknowledge words or information you have
taken - or cited - from another source such as books, websites, newspapers, journals,
DVDs, etc.
Citation: acknowledging someone elses work
Citation or citing is when you use information or words written by someone else in your
work to support your argument or illustrate your point.
You need to cite when you:
use a direct quote from someone else

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give a summary of someone elses ideas
paraphrase someone elses ideas
copy some information (such as a picture, a table or some statistics)
1
.
Avoiding plagiarism
Plagiarism is when you do not give credit to the author/s for information used in your own
work. This means not citing or referencing when:
copying the work of another student
directly copying or buying any part of another authors work
paraphrasing or summarising someone elses ideas
directly copying and pasting information from the Internet
using the idea or thesis from someone elses work
using experimental results from someone elses work
2
.
Plagiarism is easy to avoid if you cite and reference correctly. However, plagiarism is a form
of academic dishonesty, which incurs severe penalties at QUT.
Some students think citations only need to be included when they are directly quoting
someone. This is not true. All material of an informative nature (i.e. information you used
from your reading) should be acknowledged.
This means that any information (words, ideas, statistics, tables, data, pictures, photos, etc.)
obtained from another author or source requires an in-text citation, whether it is used in a
direct quotation or as a paraphrase.

Legal citation styles
There is a variety of citation styles currently accepted in Australia. The Law School requires
students to adopt the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC). Written Assessment in the
Law School (WALS) has been compiled with reference to the AGLC as it reflects the modern
approach of leading Australian legal publishers. Any differences to the AGLC have been
noted.
As this guide only addresses the citation of some of the most common sources that students
will be citing in their law studies, for further guidance you must consult the AGLC. The
current edition of AGLC is the third (AGLC3). Students are advised to use WALS for
referencing and if it does not give guidance on a source, please refer to the AGLC3 .

1
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, 2012, 3.
2
Ibid.

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Law School citation requirements

Footnote style/format
The Law School requires that references and citations be included in footnotes (bottom of
each page) which are numbered consecutively, not endnotes.
Footnote indicator numbers should be placed outside punctuation in the text:
Like this.
1
Not Like this
1
.
After the full stop.
1
Not before the full stop like this
1
.
After the comma,
1
if applicable. Not before the comma
1
, like this.
If more than one source is cited in the footnote, the sources are separated by a semicolon.
Personal Injuries Proceeding Act 2002 (Qld); Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld).
Use a full stop at the end of every footnote.
Content of footnotes
Footnotes provide authorities for arguments or statements of legal principles that are being
relied upon in the text of the assignment. Therefore, footnotes must not contain any
detailed argument or answer; this must be in the body of the text.
Do not cite a secondary source (eg a text) as authority when a primary source (eg a case) is
available.
If citing a secondary source, ensure that it is a recognised and credible source (eg not
sources such as law firm newsletters available on the Internet, Wikipedia or a tutorial guide).
Study Guides, workbooks and taped lectures must not be cited as authorities for legal
principles.
Repeating references
Ibid should be used to refer to the source cited in the footnote immediately preceding
except if more than that source is cited in the previous footnote.
Above n should be used if the source has been cited in a previous footnote, other than the
immediate preceding footnote, or in the immediate preceding footnote as one of multiple
sources. Above n cannot be used for legislation, treaties or cases.
The use of supra (above), op cit (in the work cited), infra (below) or loc cit (in the place
cited) is not allowed for repeat references to sources appearing in previous footnotes.
Refer to the guide of the particular resource for further information on referring to repeated
references.

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Quotations
Quotes within the text of an assignment that are three lines or less may be incorporated into
the text in single quotation marks. Quotes longer than three lines must be separated from
the text (ie a new paragraph) indented from the left and be without quotation marks.
Examples
In Smythe v Thomas, Rein AJ held:
In circumstances where both the buyer and the seller agree to accept the terms
and conditions of the eBay I see no difficulty in treating the parties as having
accepted that the online auction will have features that are both similar and
different to auctions conducted in other forums.
1

1 [2007] NSWSC 844, [35].

It was held that in respect of vending machines, the offer is made when the proprietor of
the machine holds it out as being ready to receive money.
1

1 Thornton v Shoe Lane Parking Ltd [1971] 2 QB 163, 169.

For law students, plagiarism (academic dishonesty) has very serious consequences as it may
prevent admission as a legal practitioner. In Re AJG [2004] QCA 88 when considering a one
off incident of plagiarism, the court stated:
Legal practitioners must exhibit a degree of integrity which engenders in the Court and
in clients unquestioning confidence in the completely honest discharge of their
professional commitments. Cheating ...must preclude our presently being satisfied of
this applicants fitness.

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1. Legislative Materials

1.1 Acts and regulations
Titles (short title) of legislation/regulations and the year must be in italics and the
jurisdiction in brackets.
Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld)
Civil Liability Regulation 2003 (Qld)
If sections of the legislation/regulations are referred to, the section number is after the
name of the Act/regulation.
If only one section is being referred to:
o Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld) s 2.
If two sections are being referred to:
o Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld) ss 2, 54(1).
Hint: To prevent s and the section number from splitting onto two lines, type s,
ctrl+shift+spacebar.
1.1.1 Exceptions

(There is no specific guidance in AGLC3 regarding citing these materials). When the States and
Commonwealth attempt to harmonise legislation what can happen is that one jurisdiction enacts
the lead legislation with a template as a schedule to the act, and the other jurisdictions pass
legislation adopting the lead legislation. (Legislation may include statutory
instruments/subordinate legislation such as RULES, etc.). The name of the enacting legislation and
the name of the harmonized legislation in the schedule may be different within a jurisdiction and
between jurisdictions.
These instances need to be handled on a case by case basis.
Below is an example of how to cite Australian Consumer Law legislation in the Competition and
Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).
In text citation:
Example:
In s 60 of the Australian Consumer Law (Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) sch 2) it refers
to
Footnote citation:
Commonwealth
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) sch 2 Australian Consumer Law s 60.
Queensland
Fair Trading Act 1989 (Qld) sch (Qld) s

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All application Acts
Competition and Consumer Act 2012 (Cth) sch 2 ACL (Application Acts) s
See 1.5.1 for guidance on abbreviated titles of legislation

1.2 Bills and Explanatory Memoranda
Bills are referred to in the same way as Acts and regulations (see 1.1) except that the title
and year are not in italics.

Pinpoint references refer to the clauses of the Bill, so cl is used.
o Defamation Bill 2005 (Qld) cl 5.
Explanatory Memoranda (or Explanatory Statements or Explanatory Notes as in Queensland)
are cited with the words Explanatory Memorandum, then the Bill (as above) and any
pinpoint reference - which would be a page number.
o Explanatory Memorandum, Personal Injuries Proceedings Bill 2002 (Qld) 10.

1.3 Second reading speeches / parliamentary debates (Hansard)
Include the jurisdiction, the title Parliamentary Debates, the house of parliament, date, page
and note the speaker and position (if relevant) in brackets. Do not note that the speaker is
an MP.
Commonwealth, Parliamentary Debates, House of Representatives, 3 November
2005, 103 (Phillip Ruddock, Attorney-General).
Queensland, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 9 November 2005, 3894
(Linda Lavarch, Attorney-General).
Commonwealth, Parliamentary Debates, House of Representatives, 16 December
1992, 3833 (Paul Keating, Prime Minister).
Victoria, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 17 October 2001, 1143-5
(Richard Wynne).

1.4 Treaties
A citation to a treaty or other international agreement must include: name of the agreement
(in italics), date of signing, signatories (if bi-lateral agreement), subdivision referred to (if
applicable), source in which the treaty can be found, popular name, specific information (if
required).

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Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, opened
for signature 18 December 1979, [1983] ATS9 (entered into force 8 September 1981).
Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community, opened for signature 25
March 1957, 298 UNTS, (entered into force 1 January 1958) art 85(1).
Australian Treaties Series may be cited using the medium neutral citation system (name of
agreement, year of publication, designator, sequential number).
Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, opened for
signature 22 December 1994, [2001] ATS 3 (entered into force 15 January 1999).

1.5 Subsequent citations of legislative material
If the legislative material is contained in the immediate preceding footnote by itself, Ibid is
used in place of the full citation. Ibid is short for ibidem meaning in the same place. If it is
in the immediate preceding footnote but with other references or in another preceding
footnote, the material must be cited in full again. Above n is not used for legislative
material.
Example of repeating legislative material in the footnotes:
1 Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) s54.
2 Ibid s 54(2).
3 Civil Proceedings Act 2012 (Qld) s 42.
4 Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) s 54.
5 Parker v Commonwealth (1965) 112 CLR 295.
6 Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) s 54; Civil Proceedings Act 2012 (Qld) s 42.
7 Civil Proceedings Act 2012 (Qld) s 42.
8 Ibid.
9 Explanatory Notes, Personal Injuries Proceedings Bill 2002 (Qld) 10.
10 Ibid 11.
11 Personal Injuries Proceeding Act 2002 (Qld).
12 Explanatory Notes, Personal Injuries Proceedings Bill 2002 (Qld) 11.

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1.5.1 Abbreviated titles of legislation etc.
Where there is a well-known and commonly accepted abbreviation of the title of a statute
(or a treaty) it may be used, particularly where there is very little likelihood of any confusion.
Cite the Act in full first and then note the abbreviation that will be used in subsequent
citations, in single quote marks, in italics. This method can be adopted in the text of the
assignment as well.
Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (FLA).
o Next citation when referring to the Act, for example, would be: FLA s 79.
Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) (CLA).
o Next citation when referring to the Act, for example, would be: CLA s 54.
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA).
o Next citation when referring to the Act, for example, would be: CCA sch 2.
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women opened
for signature 18 December 1979, [1983] ATS 9 (entered into force 18 September
1981) (CEDAW).
o Next citation when referring to the Treaty, for example, would be: CEDAW art
6.
Example:
Section 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (TPA) had a far-reaching effect and
applied to situations which would never have been contemplated by the drafters of the
legislation. Although the TPA
Where confusion is possible, for example, where several jurisdictions have statutes with
similar titles or covering similar subject matter, the short title should be repeated.
Defamation Act 2005 (Qld).
o Cite in full as many Australian jurisdictions have a Defamation Act 2005.

1.6 What goes in the footnote
If the legislative material is referred to in the text, the practice is to include any relevant
section etc. in the text as well if it is being discussed. In such instances, there is no need for
a footnote.
In many of the Australian jurisdictions the non-pecuniary damages are referred to as
non-economic loss.
1
However, s 51 of the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) refers to general
damages.
___________________________________________________
1 Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002 (ACT) s 99; Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) s 3; Civil Liability
Act 1936 (SA) s 3; Civil Liability Act 2002 (Tas) s 3; Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) s 28B.

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NOT:
In many of the Australian jurisdictions the non-pecuniary damages are referred to as
non-economic loss.
1
However, s 51 of the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) refers to
general damages.
2
___________________________________________________________________________

1 Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002 (ACT) s 99; Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) s 3; Civil
Liability Act 1936 (SA) s 3; Civil Liability Act 2002 (Tas) s 3; Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) s
28B.
2 Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) s 51.

2. Cases
Names of cases must be in italics.
Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562.
Australian Woollen Mills Pty Ltd v The Commonwealth (1953) 92 CLR 424.

If more than one case is being cited, the names are separated by semi-colons.
Griffiths v Kerkemeyer (1977) 139 CLR 161; Van Gervan v Fenton (1992) 175 CLR 327.
If a particular part of a judgment is being referred to, or a judgment is being quoted, a
pinpoint reference is required, i.e. reference to the page or the paragraph number of the
judgment. This is usually noted in the footnote.

Any pinpoint reference should be noted at the end of the citation. If the pinpoint is a page
number, the pinpoint reference is preceded by a comma. If the pinpoint reference is a
paragraph there is no comma.
If more than one pinpoint reference is required, they are separated by commas.
Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562, 578.
Kriz v King [2006] 1 Qd R 327 [17].
Kriz v King [2006] 1 Qd R 327 [17], [19].

Examples of citations of particular parts of judgments and quotes and the required
footnoting:

In Australian Woollen Mills Pty Ltd v The Commonwealth,
1
traditional contractual concepts were
considered.
____________________________________
1 (1953) 92 CLR 424, 457.

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The High Court has explained:

Once it is recognised that it is the need for the services which gives the plaintiff the right
to an award of damages, it follows that the damages he or she receives are not to be
determined by reference to the actual cost to the plaintiff of having them provided or
by reference to the income foregone by the provider of the services.
1

__________________________________
1 Van Gervan v Fenton (1992) 175 CLR 327, 333-4.

In Van Gervan v Fenton, the court held that damages for voluntary care are not assessed by
reference to the actual cost to the plaintiff of having them provided or by reference to the
income foregone by the provider of the services.
1

___________________________________
1 (1992) 175 CLR 327, 333.
2.1 Reported cases
The reported version of the case must be cited rather than an unreported version of the
case.
Kriz v King [2007] 1 Qd R 327.
o NOT Kriz v King [2006] QCA 351.
Cases are often reported in more than one place, for example decisions of the High Court
are reported in the Commonwealth Law Reports (CLR), the Australian Law Reports (ALR) and
in subject specific series (eg Australian Trade Practices Reporter). Only one citation of a case
is required and it must be the authorised report, ie approved by the judge or the associate.
The CLR citation must be used in preference of any ALR citation.
New South Wales v Fahy (2007) 232 CLR 486.
o NOT New South Wales v Fahy (2007) 4 DDCR 459; (2007) 232 CLR 486; (2007)
236 ALR 406; (2007) 81 ALJR 1021; (2007) Aust Torts Reports 81-889; [2007]
HCA 20; BC200703763.
o NOT New South Wales v Fahy (2007) 236 ALR 406.
o NOT New South Wales v Fahy[2007] HCA 20.
o NOT New South Wales v Fahy [2007] HCA 20; (2007) 232 CLR 486.
2.2 Unreported cases
If a case has not been reported, the medium neutral citation is used. This requires the name
of the case to be in italics, the year of the decision in square brackets followed by the court
identifier and judgment number and then any pinpoint reference.
Howarth v Miotti [2009] QSC 96.
Dunleavy v Peak [2009] NSWCA 72 [14].

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If there is no medium neutral citation (usually this is because the case was decided before
1999) then the case name is followed by: (Unreported, the name of the court, the judge(s),
the date of the decision) and any pinpoint reference which would be a page number.
Ross v Chambers (Unreported, Supreme Court of the Northern Territory,
Kriewaldt J, 5 April 1956).
Barton v Chibber (Unreported, Supreme Court of Victoria, Hampel J, 29 June
1989) 3.
2.3 Subsequent citations of cases
If consecutive footnotes are citing the same case (ie footnote immediately above), use Ibid
in place of the full case citation. Ibid is short for ibidem meaning in the same place.

If the same case is being cited, but a pinpoint reference is required or is different to the
previous footnote pinpoint reference, use Ibid but note the pinpoint reference. There is no
punctuation after the Ibid.

Example of using ibid in footnotes when repeating citations of cases:
1 Van Gervan v Fenton (1992) 175 CLR 327.
2 Ibid 333.
3 Kriz v King [2006] 1 Qd R 327 [17].
4 Ibid [19].
5 Van Gervan v Fenton (1992) 175 CLR 327.
6 Ibid.

2.3.1 Abbreviated name of case
Where a case has a particularly long name, or where there is a popular name in common
usage, the first citation to the case must be in full, with subsequent citations using the
shortened form. The shortened form should be indicated in brackets after the first citation
(this can be in the text of the assignment or in the footnote).
In a footnote:
Commonwealth of Australia v Tasmania (1983) 158 CLR 1 (Tasmanian Dam Case).
o The next reference to the case in a later footnote would be: Tasmanian Dam
Case (1983) 158 CLR 1.
Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd v Amadio (1983) 151 CLR 447 (Amadios Case).
o The next reference to the case in a later footnote would be: Amadios Case
(1983) 151 CLR 447.

In the text:
In Commonwealth of Australia v Tasmania
1
(Tasmanian Dam Case)
1 (1983) 158 CLR 1.

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If the case name appears in the text of the assignment, the citation appears in the footnote.
The most recent case to consider compensation for voluntary care is Kriz v King.
1

1 [2006] 1 Qd R 327.

If the principle of the case (or obiter etc) is being referred to in the text of the assignment,
but not the case by name, the case name and citation appears in the footnote.
It has long been accepted that voluntary care provided to an injured person may be
compensated.
1

1 Griffiths v Kerkemeyer (1977) 139 CLR 161.

3. Textbooks
3.1 Authored textbooks
The full citation of a textbook requires the names of the author(s) as appears on the title
page of the textbook and the title of the textbook in italics. The publication details follow in
brackets, stating the publisher and place of publication,
1
the edition (if not the first edition)
and the year of publication, separated by commas.
Nickolas James and Rachael Field, The New Lawyer (John Wiley & Sons, Australia,
2013).
Martin Davies and Ian Malkin, Torts (LexisNexis Butterworths, Australia, 6
th
ed, 2012).
If the textbook has more than three authors, only the name of the first named author is
required
,
followed by et al.
Lindy Willmott et al, Contract Law (Oxford University Press, Australia, 4
th
ed, 2013).
The publishers name should appear as on the title page, except that words such as the,
Pty, Ltd, and Co should be omitted in accordance with AGLC3 5.3.1.
Law Book not Law Book Co.
3.2 Edited textbooks
An edited textbook is cited in the same way as an authored textbook, with (ed) or (eds)
added to after the name(s) of the editor(s).
Jason W Neyers, Erika Chamberlain and Stephen G A Pitel (eds), Emerging Issues in
Tort Law (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2007).

1
The AGLC3 does not include the place of publication. However as jurisdiction is important in the
assessment of the relevance of a source in legal research, the Law School requires place of
publication to be noted in textbook citations. The place of publication will be the city if stated,
otherwise, the state or country.

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If referring to a specific chapter in the edited textbook, the author of the chapter and the
chapter title in single quotation marks precedes the usual citation of the textbook and the
first page of the chapter is noted at the end. Any pinpoint reference is noted at the end.
Peter Cane, General and Special Tort Law: Uses (and Abuses) of Theory in Jason W
Neyers, Erika Chamberlain and Stephen G A Pitel (eds), Emerging Issues in Tort Law
(Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2007) 5.
Peter Cane, General and Special Tort Law: Uses (and Abuses) of Theory in Jason W
Neyers, Erika Chamberlain and Stephen G A Pitel (eds), Emerging Issues in Tort Law
(Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2007) 5, 18.
3.3 Subsequent citations of textbooks
The use of supra (above), op cit (in the work cited), infra (below) or loc cit (in the place
cited) is not allowed.
3.3.1 Consecutive citations
If consecutive footnotes are citing the same textbook (ie footnote immediately preceding),
use Ibid in place of the full citation. Ibid is short for ibidem meaning in the same place.

For the defence of non est factum it must be proven that the document they signed is
radically different to the document they believed they had signed.
1
The defence is
therefore available only to a limited class of persons.
2

1 Lindy Willmott et al, Contract Law (Oxford University Press, Australia, 3
rd
ed, 2009) 213.
2 Ibid.
If the same textbook is being cited, but a pinpoint reference is required or is different to the
previous footnote pinpoint reference, use Ibid but include the new pinpoint reference.
Note that there is no punctuation after the word Ibid if it includes a pinpoint reference.
As the law of torts is concerned with the protection of civil rights, there is some
overlap with other common law areas.
1
For example, parties to a contract have
contractual rights and concurrent liability exists in torts law.
2

1 Amanda Stickley, Australian Torts Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, Australia, 3
rd
ed, 2013) 6.
2 Ibid 7.

3.3.2 Non-consecutive citations
If the same secondary source is cited in a later footnote, the footnote is to refer back to the
footnote in which the citation was first given. The citation must state the author surname
(only first named author if more than one) followed by above n [relevant footnote number]
and the pinpoint reference if relevant preceded by a comma.

Willmott, above n 1, 213.

If a book has page numbers and paragraphs, pinpoint references may be to page numbers
and paragraph numbers. If a book has only numbered paragraphs, a pinpoint reference
should be to a paragraph.

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Example of footnotes where secondary sources are being cited more than once in an
assignment:

1 Amanda Stickley, Australian Torts Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, Australia, 3
rd
ed, 2013) 6.
2 Ibid 7.
3 Astley v Austrust Ltd (1999) 197 CLR 1.
4 Travel Compensation Fund v Tambree (2005) 224 CLR 627 [48].
5 Astley v Austrust Ltd (1999) 197 CLR 1.
6 Peter Cane, General and Special Tort Law: Uses (and Abuses) of Theory in Jason W
Neyers, Erika Chamberlain and Stephen G A Pitel (eds), Emerging Issues in Tort Law (Hart
Publishing, Oxford, 2007) 5, 18.
7 Stickley, above n 1, 7.
8 Cane, above n 6, 22.
9 Charles Mitchell and Stephen Watterson, Subrogation: Law and Practice (Oxford University
Press, Oxford, 2007) 9 [2.02].

If the title of the textbook appears in the text of the assignment, the names of the author(s)
must either be in the footnote with the publication details unless the name of the author(s)
appear in the body of the text with the title of the textbook.
In Land Law,
1
the authors argue .
1
Eileen Webb and Margaret Stephenson (LexisNexis Butterworths, Australia, 3
rd
ed, 2009) 242.
In Land Law,
1
Webb and Stephenson argue
1
LexisNexis Butterworths, Australia, 3
rd
ed, 2009, 242.
If the title of the textbook does not appear in the text of the assignment but is the source of
the information or is being quoted from, the footnote should contain the full citation of the
textbook, including the relevant pinpoint reference.
The defence of non est factum is only available to a limited class of persons as it must
be proven that the document they signed is radically different to the document they
believed they had signed.
1

1
th
ed, 2013) 218 [8.50].
Non est factum is a defence only available to a limited class of people who have
signed a contractual document, and wish to escape the legal consequences of that
contract.
1

1
th
ed, 2013) 218 [8.50].

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4. Journal articles
When citing a journal article, the author must be noted as it appears in the article, followed
by the title of the article in single quotation marks and then the details of the journal (ie
year, volume if applicable, journal name in full in italics and first page of article). If a
pinpoint reference is required, it is noted at the end of the citation, preceded by a comma.
Leonard Hoffmann, The Universality of Human Rights (2009) 125 Law Quarterly
Review 416.
Allan C Hutchinson, Heydon Seek: Looking for Law in All the Wrong Places (2003) 29
Monash University Law Review 85.
Craig Burgess, Can Dr Death Receive a Fair Trial? (2007) 7 Queensland University
of Technology Law & Justice Journal 16, 18.
Ben Mathews, Kerryann Walsh and Jenny Fraser, Mandatory Reporting by Nurses of
Child Abuse and Neglect (2006) 13 Journal of Law & Medicine 505.
The majority of law journals publish a number of issues each year which when collated form
the volume. If each issue follows on from the previous issue in pagination, there is no need
to note the issue number just the volume number (as in examples above). However, if
each issue is paginated from 1, then the issue number must be noted in brackets after the
volume number.
Jeremy Masters, Easing the Parting (2008) 82(11) Law Institute Journal 68.
Articles accessed online (for example AGIS) are cited in the same way as above if the online
version is an exact copy of the printed article. You check this by making sure that the first
page number on the electronic copy of the article matches the citation (eg for Craig Burgess,
Can Dr Death Receive a Fair Trial? (2007) 7 Queensland University of Technology Law &
Justice Journal 16, the first page on the electronic version is numbered 16).
If the article is in an electronic journal (ie only available in electronic form from the journal
website), the citation of the article is the same as above. But the citation should be followed
with the URL within the <> symbols. Any pinpoint reference appears before the URL.
Matt Porter and Gary D Meyers, Indigenous Joint Management of National Parks in
Western Australia (2008) 15(2) eLaw Journal 262
<https://elaw.murdoch.edu.au/archives/issues/2008/2/elaw_15_2_Porter_Meyers%
20.pdf>.
If the title of the article appears in the text of the assignment, the names of the author(s)
must either be in the footnote with the journal citation unless the name of the author(s)
appear in the body of the text with the title of the article.
In Precedent from the Privy Council,
1
Conaglen observes
1 (2006) 122 Law Quarterly Review 349, 352.
In Precedent from the Privy Council
1
it is explained
1 Michael Conaglen, (2006) 122 Law Quarterly Review 349, 352.

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If the title of the article does not appear in the text of the assignment but is the source of
the information or is being quoted from, the footnote should contain the full citation of the
article, including the relevant pinpoint reference.
To publish the name of an accused before trial pre-empts any application for a
suppression order.
1

1 Craig Burgess, Can Dr Death Receive a Fair Trial? (2007) 7 Queensland University of Technology Law &
Justice Journal 16, 26.
It has been noted that publishing the name of an accused before they appear in
court pre-empts their right to apply to the court for a suppression order
1

1 Craig Burgess, Can Dr Death Receive a Fair Trial? (2007) 7 Queensland University of Technology Law &
Justice Journal 16, 26.

4.1 Subsequent citations of articles
Articles may be cited again following the rules as set out for textbooks at [3.3].

The same approach as textbooks, see [3.4].

5. Reports of committees, commissions and government
departments
5.1 Law Reform Commission Reports
Include name of law reform commission, title (in italics), report/discussion paper number
and year (in brackets) and pinpoint reference if required. If the report is in volumes the
pinpoint reference should indicate the relevant volume.
Queensland Law Reform Commission, Vicarious Liability, Report No 56 (2001).
Queensland Law Reform Commission, Shaping Queenslands Guardianship Legislation:
Principles and Capacity, Discussion Paper No 64 (2008) 15.

5.2 Royal Commission Reports
Include jurisdiction, name of royal commission, title (in italics) and year (in brackets) and the
pinpoint reference if required. If the report is in volumes the pinpoint reference should
indicate the relevant volume.
New South Wales, Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service, Final
Report (1997) vol 2, 222.

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5.3 Government publications
Include author, issuing body, title (in italics), author if given, publication details, and pinpoint
reference if required.
Commonwealth, Commission of Inquiry into Poverty, Poverty in Australia: First Main
Report (Prof RF Henderson, Chairperson), AGPS, 1975.
Commonwealth, Review of the Law of Negligence Final Report (Honourable David
Ipp, Chairperson), 2002.
5.4 Government reports/publications accessed from electronic
sources
Use the rules outlined above in [5.3] and add <URL>.
Attorney General's Dept (Cth), Copyright Reform and the Digital Agenda (Discussion
Paper, July 1997), 5.2 < http://law.gov.au/publications/digital.htm>.

6. Looseleaf services
A looseleaf service is a legal information source on a specific topic such as Australian
Corporations and Securities Law Reporter. The service can be in several looseleaf volumes
which enable updates to be added easily and out-of-date pages to be removed. The service
usually contains all legislation and caselaw relating to the topic and jurisdiction, as well as
reliable commentary. Looseleaf services are predominantly used by practitioners. Online
looseleaf services are found under the commentary tab or link on the database platform.
The footnote must contain author (if identified), the publisher, title of service (in italics),
volume number (this may be a number, a year or a subtitle taken from the volumes spine),
title of section (date of most recent update to the service), [subdivision/paragraph number].
If the service uses the paragraph symbol (), this should be used rather than square
brackets.
Hint: Click on the information icon in online looseleaf service/commentary to locate most
recent service number or date of last update. Use the currency information closest to the
paragraph which you are citing.
CCH, Australian Labour Law Reporter, Termination of Employment (at 22 July 2011)
47-110.
M Broun and S Fowler, CCH, Family Law and Practice Commentary, Divorce (at 3
August 2006) [5-200].
If it is not possible to find all this information to include in the citation, just include all the
available information in the above order.

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7. Legal encyclopaedias
Footnote must contain the name of the publisher, the title of encyclopaedia (in italics),
volume number (if using hard copy), date of last update of a chapter or if that is not available
then date of retrieval (in round brackets), title number and name of title, chapter number
and name of chapter (in inverted commas) followed by the pinpoint reference as a
[paragraph number].
LexisNexis, Halsbury's Laws of Australia (at 21 October 2009) 205 Family Law, 1
Introduction [205-100].
Thomson Reuters, Laws of Australia (at 21 October 2009) 17 Family Law, 17.2
Professional Ethics [17.2.4].
Use the same elements for an encyclopaedia accessed online but do not include a volume
number.
LexisNexis, Halsbury's Laws of Australia (at 21 October 2009) Family Law, 1
Introduction [205-100].
Thomson Reuters, Laws of Australia (at 21 October 2009) Family Law, 17.2
Professional Ethics [17.2.4].

8. Newspaper articles
Footnote must include author (if given), title of article (in single quotation marks),
newspaper (in italics), place of publication (in brackets), date, page reference.
Ellen Connolly, 'Strapped for Cash: Man gets $2.5m for a 1984 Caning', Sydney
Morning Herald (Sydney), 15 February 2001, 1.
B McHugh, 'Letter to the Editor' The West Australian (Perth), 19 November 1982, 6.
Editorial, Good news for schools, The Courier Mail (Brisbane), 5 May 2005, 8.

If the article has been accessed freely from the Internet, use the rules above, but replace
place of publication with the word online and add the URL after the date and any page
reference.
'Ruddock to Grant East Timorese Visas', The West Australian (online), 3 June 2003
<http://www.thewest.com.au>.

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9. Internet sources
The following refers to materials accessed on the internet, not from official legal publisher
databases, that have not been covered elsewhere in this guide. These sources have not been
published in print prior to publication on the internet.
Include author, document title (in italics) full date of creation/date of last update (in
brackets) website name <URL>.
J Corcoran, Timor, Tampa and Technology (November 2001) Law Institute of Victoria
<http://www.liv.asn.au/news/president/20011129.html>.
World Health Organisation, Violence against Women: A Priority Health Issue (1997)
<http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/vaw/infopack.htm>.
The name of the author should be given exactly as it appears at the source.
If the full date of creation/date of last update is not shown on the website, as much date as
possible should be included. If there is no date, the date is omitted in accordance with
AGLC3 6.15.3.
The date of retrieval should not be included in the citation in accordance with AGLC3 6.15.6.
The following refers to television and radio transcripts.
Include broadcaster, title of segment, name of program (in italics), full date name of
presenter (in brackets) <URL>.
ABC Television, Chamber of Commerce Rejects Supervised Injecting Room, The 7.30
Report, 23 March 2000 (Kerry OBrien)
<http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s113017.htm>.

10. Bibliographies
Unless instructed otherwise, it is expected that written assessment includes a bibliography.
A bibliography contains all sources consulted in the preparation of the assessment, not only
the sources cited in the footnotes.
The bibliography is divided into parts with headings specifying the type of sources which are
relevant for the assessment:
A Articles/ Books/Reports
B Cases
C Legislation
D Treaties
E Other
If the assessment does not include some of the types of sources listed above, the headings
are omitted.

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Each part of the bibliography is listed alphabetically. No pinpoint references are included in
the bibliography.
There is no full stop at the end of the reference in the bibliography.
10.1 Articles/Books/Reports (Secondary sources)
In the bibliography the secondary sources (headed A Articles/Books/Reports) are listed
alphabetically according to the surname of the first listed author or the name of the
institution if it is the author or, if there is no author, the first word in the title.
Where this is a personal author, the first mentioned authors first name and surname are
inverted, so that the surname appears first, but the other authors names are not inverted.

A Articles/Books/Reports

Davies, Martin and Ian Malkin, Torts (LexisNexis Butterworths, Australia, 6
th
ed, 2012)
George, Patrick, Defamation Law in Australia (LexisNexis Butterworths, Australia, 2
nd
ed,
2012)
Hutchinson, Andrew, Heydon Seek: Looking for Law in All the Wrong Places (2003) 29
Monash University Law Review 85
New South Wales, Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service, Final Report
(1997) vol 2, 222
Willmott, Lindy et al, Contracts (Oxford University Press, Australia, 4th ed, 2013)

10.2 Cases
Cases are listed alphabetically with full citation as specified in [2]. No pinpoint references are
included.

B Cases

Australian Woollen Mills Pty Ltd v The Commonwealth (1953) 92 CLR 424
Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562
Dunleavy v Peak [2009] NSWCA 72
Griffiths v Kerkemeyer (1977) 139 CLR 161
Kriz v King [2006] 1 Qd R 327
New South Wales v Fahy (2007) 232 CLR 486

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Ross v Chambers (Unreported, Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, Kriewaldt J, 5 April
1956)

10.3 Legislation
Legislation is listed alphabetically and is not further subdivided into jurisdiction. No pinpoint
references are included.

C Legislation

Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW)
Civil Liability Regulation 2003 (Qld)
Civil Proceedings Act 2012 (Qld)
Defamation Bill 2005 (Qld)
Explanatory Notes, Personal Injuries Proceedings Bill 2002 (Qld)
Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)
Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld)
Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic)

10.4 Treaties
Treaties are listed alphabetically.

D Treaties
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, opened for
signature 18 December 1979, [1983] ATS 9 (entered into force 18 September 1981)
Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, opened for signature
22 December 1994, [2001] ATS 3 (entered into force 15 January 1999)
Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community, opened for signature 25 March
1957, 298 UNTS (entered into force 1 January 1958)

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10.5 Other (Secondary Sources)
Includes all other legal information resources:
Parliamentary debates;
Working papers and similar documents;
Legal encyclopaedias;
Looseleaf services;
Newspaper articles;
Conference papers; and
Internet materials.
List alphabetically according to the surname of the first mentioned author or a name of
institution if it is the author or, if there is no author, the first word in the title.

E Other
CCH, Australian Labour Law Reporter, vol 1
Commonwealth, Parliamentary Debates, House of Representatives, 3 November
2005, 103 (Phillip Ruddock, Attorney-General)
Editorial, Good news for schools, The Courier Mail, 5 May 2005
LexisNexis, Halsburys Laws of Australia, 145 Defamation
'Ruddock to Grant East Timorese Visas', The West Australian (online), 3 June 2003
<http://www.thewest.com.au>

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