Harvard Referencing Guide

• If the name of an authoring organisation, e.g. government agency, is long and cited often in the text, it may be necessary to abbreviate the name in the in-text citation.
• The first time an acronym or abbreviated name is used, you must give the full name followed by the acronym in parenthesis.

For example:

 … (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] 2021)

  Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS 2021) ..

You may use just the acronyms in subsequent citations.

For example:

(ABS 2021)
(ABS 2021:5)

• For reports published online, hyperlink the title of the report and include an accessed date. If you’re citing a PDF, avoid linking directly to the PDF. Instead link to the page that hosts the PDF.
• Sources with title pages will detail the author and publisher. Follow the authoring details on the title page of the document.

Report by an Australian Government agency

Elements of the reference

Author A or Agency Name (Year) Title of report: subtitle of report, Name of Agency, Name of Government, accessed Day Month Year.

In-text citation

(Baslum 2000)

(Department of Health and Aged Care [DHAC] 1999)

Department of Conservation (2000)

Reference list

Baslum S (2000) Payments to Vietnam veterans: a summary, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Australian Government.

DHAC (Department of Health and Aged Care) (1999) Hepatitis C: a review of Australia’s response, report prepared by D Lowe and R Cotton, DHAC, Australian Government.

Department of Conservation (2000) Hydrogen-powered cars: progress to date, Sustainable Energy Branch, Department of Conservation, Northern Territory Government.

 

Unpublished report by an Australian Government agency

• For unpublished reports include the word ‘unpublished’ instead of the year in in-text citations.

Elements of the reference

Author A or Agency Name (unpublished) Title of report: subtitle of report, Name of Agency, Name of Government, accessed Day Month Year.

In-text citation

In their report, White and Jackson (unpublished) ..

Reference list

White N and Jackson D (unpublished) Testing for EPO, Australian Sports Drug Agency, Australian Government, accessed 3 March 2020.

 

Report that is part of a series

• Italicise the name of the series, not the title of the report

Elements of the reference

Author A or Agency Name (Year) ‘Title of report: subtitle of report’, Name of Series, catalogue number, Name of Agency, Name of Government, accessed Day Month Year.

In-text citation

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW 2019) ..

Reference list

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2019) ‘Australia’s welfare 2019 data insights’, Australia’s Welfare Series 14, catalogue number AUS 226, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 5 February 2020.

 

Report to an Australian Government agency

Elements of the reference

Author A or Agency Name (Year) Title of report: subtitle of report, report to Agency Name, Organisation Name or Abbreviation.

In-text citation

White and Green (2020:7) ..

Reference list

White N and Green J (2020) Hydrogen-powered cars: progress to date, report to the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, SLR Consulting.

MJA (Marsden Jacob Associates) (2020) Hydrogen-powered cars: progress to date, report to the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, MJA.

 

Published internal report

Elements of the reference

Author A or Organisation Name or Abbreviation (Year) Title of report: subtitle of report, Organisation Name or Abbreviation.

In-text citation

TerraCycle (2018) reports ..

Reference list

TerraCycle (2018) Report on recycling in Canberra offices, TerraCycle.

 

Report known by a short title

• Sometimes a report is better known by a short title or unofficial title. If you’re citing a source like this, use the short title in text.
• In the reference list, use the short title followed by a spaced em dash and the full source information (author / organisation name, etc)

In-text citation

The Gonski report (2011) suggests that ...

Reference list

Gonski report – Gonski D, Boston K, Greiner K, Lawrence, C, Scales B and Tannock P (2011) Review of funding for schooling: final report, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Australian Government, accessed 11 February 2020.

• Hyperlink the title of media releases and include an accessed date if the media release is published online.

Media release with authors listed

Elements of the reference

Author A (Day Month Year) Title of media release: subtitle of media release [media release], Organisation Name, accessed Day Month Year.

In-text citation

Black and Jacobsen (2020) OR (Black and Jacobsen 2020)

Reference list

Black F and Jacobsen N (4 February 2020) ACT has highest student participation and employment [media release], ACT Government, accessed 5 February 2020.

 

Media release with no authors listed

Elements of the reference

Organisation Name or Abbreviation (Day Month Year) Title of media release: subtitle of media release [media release], Organisation Name or Abbreviation, accessed Day Month Year.

In- text citation

ACT Government (2020) OR (ACT Government 2020)

Reference list

ACT Government (4 February 2020) ACT has highest student participation and employment [media release], ACT Government, accessed 5 February 2020.

• For online data sets, hyperlink the title and include the accessed date. If you’re citing a PDF or spreadsheet, avoid linking directly to the document. Instead link to the webpage that hosts the document.

Elements of the reference

Author A (Year) Title of data set [data set], Name of Website website, accessed Day Month Year.

In-text citation

National Native Title Tribunal (2014) ..

Reference list

National Native Title Tribunal (2014) Native Title determination outcomes [data set], data.gov.au, accessed 4 January 2020.

• The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has a guide to referencing ABS material.
• Follow the ABS advice for information to include, but adjust capitalisation and punctuation to be in line with the rest of the reference list for your content (Harvard style).
• For online data sets, hyperlink the title and include the accessed date. If you’re citing a PDF or spreadsheet, avoid linking directly to the document. Instead link to the webpage that hosts the document.

Elements of the reference

Print

Australian Bureau of Statistics (Year) Title, ABS, Canberra.

Online

Australian Bureau of Statistics (Year) Title, ABS, accessed Day Month Year.

In-text citation

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS 1995) ..

Reference list

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (1995) National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander survey 1994: detailed findings, ABS, Canberra.

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2016) 2016 Census – Cultural diversity [TableBuilder], ABS website, accessed 16 November 2020.

Parliamentary papers, such as budget papers, white papers and annual reports, are published:

• as individual documents
• as bound volumes of all documents tabled in a parliamentary sitting.

For individual documents, cite them as you would any document of that type. For example, if you access an annual report on a departmental website, cite it as a government report.

 

Bound parliamentary papers

For documents you access as part of a bound volume from a parliamentary sitting:

• use the name of the parliament as the author
• include the paper number.

Elements of the reference

Name of Parliament (Year) Title of document: subtitle of document, Parl Paper X, Name of Government.

In-text citation

Parliament of Australia (2000) ..

Reference list

Parliament of Australia (2000) Department of Finance and Administration annual report 1999–2000, Parl Paper 32, Australian Government.

 

Parliamentary debates and proceedings

• To cite a record of what was said in parliament verbatim, as recorded in Hansard, use the volume and page number. Volume numbers are before the colon, page numbers are after.

Elements of the reference

Name of Parliamentary Committee or House (Year) Debates, volume:page–page.

In-text citation

Australian Senate (2000) OR (Australian Senate 2000)

Reference list

Australian Senate (2000) Debates, S25:65.

Australian House of Representatives (2000) Debates, HR103:2–9.

 

Official Australian parliament records

• To cite the official records of proceedings in each house of parliament, include the volume or issue number and the page number. Issue numbers are in parentheses. Volume numbers are outside parentheses.
• Official Australian Parliament records may be from the Journals of the Senate or the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives.

Elements of the reference

Name of Parliamentary House (Year) Journals or Votes and Proceedings, (issue) or volume:page–page.

In-text citation

Australian Senate (2000-01)

Reference list

Australian Senate (2000–01) Journals, (123):718.

Australian House of Representatives (2000–01) Votes and Proceedings, 1:631.

• The National Archives of Australia (NAA) has a guide to referencing records it holds. Follow this advice exactly, but add a full stop at the end of the citation.

Reference list

National Archives of Australia: Prime Minister’s Department; A461, Correspondence files, multiple number series (third system), 1934–50; AX314/1/1, Aeronautical Research in the British Empire, 1945–49.