• 3-minute read
• 6th July 2019

How to Format an AGLC Bibliography

Knowing how to use AGLC referencing is vital if you’re studying law in Australia, or simply writing about legal issues Down Under, as it is the main regional guide for citing legal sources. So to help out, we’ve put together this guide on how to format an AGLC bibliography.

What to Include in an AGLC Bibliography

The fourth edition of AGLC uses a bibliography rather than a reference list. This means you should include every source you consulted while writing an essay, not just those cited in your document. In addition, you will need to sort sources by type using the following categories:

A. Articles, Books and Reports
B. Cases
C. Legislation
D. Treaties
E. Other

The “Other’ category here includes anything that doesn’t fit easily into the other categories, such as government documents, newspaper articles, transcripts, press releases, and websites.

However, you can add to the categories above as required (e.g., if you cite several interview transcripts, you could have a separate section for them). Likewise, if you haven’t cited any sources of a certain type in your work, you can leave that category out of the bibliography.

How to Present an AGLC Bibliography

An AGLC bibliography should follow certain rules. Make sure to:

• Provide full publication details for all sources.
• List sources under each heading alphabetically
• Invert the names of the first listed author when an author is named (i.e., give their surname first, followed by a comma and their first name).
• Use “et al.” after the first name when a source has four or more authors.
• Italicize titles of books, journals, cases, and legislation.
• Use “quote marks” for titles of journal articles and book chapters.

As with any referencing system, clarity and consistency are vital in an AGLC bibliography, so make sure to get your work proofread, too.

Example AGLC Bibliography

In case any of the above isn’t clear, a bibliography made using AGLC rules should look something like the following:

A. Articles, Books and Reports

Mackie, Ken, Elizabeth Bennett Histead and John Page, Australian Land Law in Context (Oxford University Press, 2012)

Rothstein, Mark A, “Epigenetic Exceptionalism” (2013) 41(3) The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 733

B. Cases

Nydam v The Queen (1997) VR 430

Smith v Jones (1982) 126 CLR 503

C. Legislation

Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW)

Navigation Act 2012 (Cth) s 14

D. Treaties

International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, opened for signature 3 November 2001, UNTS 2400 (entered into force 31 March 2004)

E. Other

Hamer, David, “ARC rankings poor on law”, The Australian (online, 25 June 2008) <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/opinion/arc-rankings-poor-on-law/story-e6frgcko-1111116734303>

Wells, Kathryn, Australia’s Maritime History Under Sail (Web Page, 17 December 2009) <http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/australias-maritime-history-under-sail>