Cite classics as book titles

Disciplines and sources define the term ‘classics’ in different ways. This guidance covers ancient Greek and Roman works (until the 5th century) and works from the medieval period (from the fall of the Roman empire until the middle of the 15th century).

In references and in-text citations, treat the titles of classics as you would other book titles.

Cite works of art correctly

Works of art include:

Cite plays and poems correctly

You might need to refer to plays and poetry in information about events, in digital content and in other publications.

References to plays and poetry must be accurate and complete so that they:

Editing is integral to clear content

Editing is part of the work of any team that creates and publishes content. Editing helps content meet user and business needs by ensuring it is:

• appropriate for the audience
• easily understood
• free from errors, consistent and complete.

Place a reference marker in text, link it to details in a note

The documentary–note system uses:

• superscript reference markers – numbers or symbols – in the text
• footnotes or endnotes with the full information about the source.

Each note has the corresponding superscript reference marker before it. Users find the note by matching the number or symbol. In digital content, the reference markers can be hyperlinked to help users access the note.

Include author and date in text, and list full details later

The author–date system uses:

• in-text citations with the author’s name and the date of publication
• an alphabetical reference list with the full information about the source.

People use the information from an in-text citation to find the corresponding reference in the list.

Cite legal material consistently and accurately

It’s important to cite legal sources in a consistent and accurate way across government.

The Style Manual gives common guidance for different types of legal material, including:

Use words for ordinals up to ‘ninth’ and numerals for ‘10th’ and above

Spell out ordinal numbers from ‘first’ to ‘ninth’. Use numerals for ordinals from ‘10th’ onwards.

Ordinals written as numerals always have a suffix:

• ‘-st’ (‘first’, ‘21st’)
• ‘-nd’ (‘second’, ‘32nd’)
• ‘-rd’ (‘third’, ‘103rd’)
• ‘-th’ (‘fourth’, ‘15th’, ‘55th’ and so on).

Don’t write suffixes in superscript. Superscript may not be accessible to people who use screen readers.

Use post-nominals in the correct order

Post-nominals are the shortened forms for academic awards and civil and military honours.

There is an order in which to write the post-nominals.

In summary, the rule is to write the highest honour first. The order is:

Use the correct form to refer to judges and magistrates

Refer to judges of the following courts as ‘Justice’ and use the title ‘The Honourable’:

• High Court
• Federal Court
• Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 1)
• supreme courts in the states and territories.

Use the titles ‘Your Honour’, ‘His Honour’ or ‘Her Honour’ for judges of: