Legal sources - Archived - APA 6th Edition - SCU Referencing Guide

Specific legal sources

Legislation

General Format

In-Text Citation:

(Title Year (Jurisdiction, abbreviated))

(Title Year (Jurisdiction, abbreviated), pinpoint reference)

Note: include the jurisdiction the first time the act is cited. Leave it out of subsequent citations.

References (short URL):

Short Title of the Act Year (Jurisdiction abbreviation), pinpoint reference, if relevant. Retrieved from URL of electronic source (Act)

References (long URL):

Short Title of the Act Year (Jurisdiction abbreviation), pinpoint reference, if relevant. Available from URL of electronic source (database)

Examples

In-Text Citation:

The Medical Treatment Act 1989 (Qld) states ....

... by virtue of s 25.2 of the Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth) ...

"A restrictive intervention may only be used on a person ...." (Mental Health Act 2013 (NT) sch 1 cl 2)

References:

Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth). Retrieved from http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/aca199757/

[Note: the URL for this Act is not considered too long, so is included in this entry.]

Bills

General Format

In-Text Citation:

(Title Year (Jurisdiction, abbreviated))

(Title Year (Jurisdiction, abbreviated), pinpoint reference)

Note: include the jurisdiction the first time the bill is cited. Leave it out of subsequent citations.

References:

Short Title of the Bill Year> (Jurisdiction abbreviation), pinpoint reference, if relevant. Retrieved from URL of electronic source

Examples

In-Text Citation:

(Corporations Amendment Bill 2006 (Cth))

(Transport Accident Further Amendment Bill 2013 (NSW) sch 1 item 9)

References:

Environmental Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 (Cth). Retrieved from http://www.aph.gov.au

Cases

General Format

In-Text Citation:

(Title of the case (year))

Note: include the year the first time the case is cited. Leave it out of subsequent citations.

References (short URL):

Case Name (year) volume number reporter abbreviation starting page. Retrieved from URL of electronic source (Case)

References (long URL):

Case Name (year) volume number reporter abbreviation starting page. Available from URL of electronic source (database)

Example

In-Text Citation:

According to the case of Rogers v Whitaker (1992) .....

(Hot Holdings Pty Ltd v Creasy (1996) 185 CLR 149)

(Wong v Commonwealth (2009) 236 CLR 573)

References:

Rogers v Whitaker (1992) 175 CLR 479

Chappel v Hart [1998] HCA 55. Available from http://www.austlii.edu.au/

[Note: the URL for this Case is quite long, so the database URL is used]

Multilateral treaty documents

General Format

In-Text Citation:

Treaty title

References:

Treaty title, opened for signature date of conclusion, treaty series (date entered into force).

Examples

In-Text Citation:

Convention on the Rights of the Child

References:

Convention on the Rights of the Child, opened for signature 20 November 1989, 1577 UNTS 3 (entered into force 2 September 1990).

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, opened for signature 28 July 1951, 189 UNTS 137 (entered into force 22 April 1954).

Legal sources - general information

For detailed guidelines, the APA style guide refers readers to The Bluebook: A uniform system of citation (19th ed, 2010), however this does not cover Australian law and cases. Check with your School for any specific requirements.
The Australian Guide to Legal Citation should be consulted when referencing international legal documents.
Round brackets are used when the report series is organised by volume numbers, square brackets are used when the reports are organised by year rather than volume. Ensure that the brackets used in your citation match the type of brackets used in your source.
In references to legislation, the year is in italics as it is considered to be part of the title of the Act.
Secondary sources: if you do not read the actual case or Act, but only read about them in another source, only include the source in your reference list.
Cases and legislation retrieved electronically require the electronic source to be added to the reference. If the content of the document is likely to be updated include the retrieved date. In some cases, the URL address of the Case or Act may be very long or cumbersome; in these cases, it is sufficient to give the URL of the database where the document was found. Use the words 'Available from' (rather than 'Retrieved from').
Jurisdictions are abbreviated and in brackets e.g (Cth ) for Commonwealth, (Vic) for Victoria, (UK) for United Kingdom.

Acknowledgement

Information and examples on this page have been modified from the Monash University Citing and referencing LibGuide, with permission.