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Harvard Referencing (AGSM)

Guide to the Harvard Referencing Style, as used by Australian Government bodies

Legislation / Statutes (Acts of Parliament)

This guide uses the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th ed. [AGLC4] for formatting reference list sources only.  

Include full details of legal content in your in-text citations.

Include a separate reference list for legal material.  

 

Australian legislation

Format: Australian legislation

Title Year (Jurisdiction abbreviation) Pinpoint abbreviation

Notes:

The short title of the Act should be used. The long title should only be used if there is no short title listed in the Act. See AGLC4 p. 67.

Jurisdiction abbreviations: see AGLC4 p. 68.

Pinpoint: This refers to the particular section or division or other part of the named Act. See AGLC4 p. 69-72 for how the different sections or parts of Acts are abbreviated.

Australian legislation: examples

Wet Tropics World Heritage Protection and Management Act 1993 (Qld) s 67.

Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) pt 3.

In text:

Section 67 of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Protection and Management Act (1993) describes the circumstances where an authorised officer may board a vehicle.

Part 3 indicates the reporting of suspicious activities requirements for institutions (Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act, 2006).

 

This guide uses the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th ed. [AGLC4] for formatting reference list sources only.  

Include full details of legal content in your in-text citations.

Include a separate reference list for legal material.  

 

UK legislation

Format, foreign legislation: 

United Kingdom

Title and Year Jurisdiction Regnal Year and Chapter Pinpoint

Notes:

Omit the 'The' from the title. See AGLC4 p. 257

Jurisdiction should be included except for legislation enacted prior to January 1, 1963 unless the jurisdiction is the Imperial Parliament. See AGLC4 p. 258

Regnal year and chapter should only be used if the legislation was enacted prior to January 1,1963. Regnal year is the number of years a monarch had reigned when the legislation was enacted. See AGLC4 pp. 258-259

Pinpoint references should follow the same rules for Australian legislation. See AGLC4 pp.69-72

UK legislation: example

NHS Funding Act 2020 (UK) s 1.

Diseases of Animals Act 1950 (UK) 14 Geo 6 c 36, s 4.

In text:

The NHS Funding Act (2020) sets out the minimum funding arrangements for the NHS for the next 4 years.

The legislated powers of the Minister to commit funds for the purpose of eradication of diseases needs to be considered (Diseases of Animals Act, 1950).

 

This guide uses the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th ed. [AGLC4] for formatting reference list sources only.  

Include full details of legal content in your in-text citations.

Include a separate reference list for legal material.  

 

US legislation

Format, Foreign legislation:

US legislation: Code

Statute Title, Title, Chapter or Volume Number Abbreviated Code Name Pinpoint Publishers Name Year of Code and Supplement

See AGLC4 pp. 272-278

US legislation example

17 USC § 403 (2008).

In text:

Notice of copyright ownership on a published work should be visible (17 USC, 2008).

 

Bills (Australian)

This guide uses the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th ed. [AGLC4] for formatting reference list sources only.  

Include full details of legal content in your in-text citations.

Include a separate reference list for legal material.  

Bills in Australia are regarded as unpublished works, so the title is not italicised. 

 

Australian Bills available online

Format

Name of Bill Year (jurisdiction abbreviation) pinpoint abbreviation.

See AGLC4  Rule 3.2 (page 74)

Examples

Marriage Act Amendment (Recognition of Foreign Marriages for Same-Sex Couples) Bill 2013 (Cth). 

University Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 (Qld) ch 2 pt 3.  

 

Cases (Australian)

This guide uses the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th ed. [AGLC4] for formatting reference list sources only.  For details about finding case law and legal abbreviations of law report series see the relevant tabs in the JCU Law Guide.

Include full details of legal content in your in-text citations.

Include a separate reference list for legal material.  

 

Australian cases

Format

First Named Plaintiff v First Named Defendant (year) volume Law Report Title Abbreviation starting page 

Note:

 If the report series is organised by volume then the year is enclosed by (round brackets). If the report series is organised by year then the year is enclosed in [square brackets]; these report series may also have volume numbers.  In medium neutral citations, usually assigned by courts, the year is always in [square brackets].

Examples

Mabo v Queensland (1989) 166 CLR 186.

Minister for Immigration v Khawar (2002) 187 ALR 574.

 

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Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International License. Content from this Guide should be attributed to James Cook University Library. This does not apply to images, third party material (seek permission from the original owner) or any logos or insignia belonging to JCU or other bodies, which remain All Rights Reserved.

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