AGLC4 citation errors international students actually make
The Australian Guide to Legal Citation is precise in a way that feels hostile at 2am. The good news is that most lost marks come from a small set of repeat offenders. This page lists the errors markers actually see, each with the wrong version, the right version, and the reason, so you can fix the pattern rather than the single footnote.
One rule explains half of everything below, so it goes first.
The master rule: no full stops in abbreviations, anywhere
This is AGLC's signature and the single biggest giveaway of a writer trained in another citation system: v, CLR, Cth, s, cl, ed, J all take no full stops.
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Mabo v. Queensland | Mabo v Queensland | the "v" never takes a full stop |
| (1953) 92 C.L.R. 424 | (1953) 92 CLR 424 | report abbreviations take no full stops |
| Kriewaldt J. | Kriewaldt J | no full stop after the judge's title |
| Crimes Act 1958 s. 18 | Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) s 18 | "s" takes no stop, and note the italics and jurisdiction below |
The footnote as a whole still ends with a full stop. It is the abbreviations inside it that stay bare.
Reported cases (AGLC4 rr 2.1 and 2.2)
The pattern: Case Name (Year) or [Year] Volume Law Report Series Starting Page, Pinpoint.
Correct examples:
- Australian Woollen Mills Pty Ltd v The Commonwealth (1953) 92 CLR 424
- Aldrick v EM Investments (QLD) Pty Ltd [2000] 2 Qd R 346, 347
The errors that recur:
- Case name not italicised, or the "v" left roman. The whole case name is italicised, including the "v" between the party names.
- Wrong brackets around the year. Round brackets (Year) when the report series has independent volume numbers, as in (1953) 92 CLR 424. Square brackets [Year] when the series is organised by year, as in [2000] 2 Qd R 346. Writing [1953] 92 CLR 424 is wrong because the CLR numbers its volumes independently.
- Pinpoint run on without a comma, as in "424 427". The pinpoint follows the starting page after a comma: 424, 427.
Introducing a short title at first citation uses single quotes and parentheses: ('Aldrick').
Unreported and medium-neutral cases (AGLC4 r 2.3)
Correct examples:
- Howarth v Miotti [2009] QSC 96
- Ross v Chambers (Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, Kriewaldt J, 5 April 1956) 77-8
The errors:
- Paragraph pinpoints without square brackets. [2009] QSC 96, 141 is wrong; the paragraph pinpoint takes square brackets: [2009] QSC 96, [141].
- Inventing a volume number. [2009] 2 QSC 96 is wrong; a medium-neutral citation has no volume number.
Legislation (AGLC4 rr 3.1.1 to 3.1.7 for Acts, r 3.2 for Bills)
Correct examples:
- Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld) s 2
- Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 (Cth) cl 83
The classic trap here is the italic and roman split:
- Act title and year are italicised; the jurisdiction is not. Writing (Vic) in italics is wrong; the jurisdiction sits in roman type, in parentheses: (Cth), (Vic), (NSW), (Qld), (SA), (WA), (Tas), (NT), (ACT).
- Bill titles are NOT italicised. Acts italic, Bills roman. Markers watch for exactly this.
- Missing jurisdiction. An Act citation requires the jurisdiction in parentheses. "Crimes Act 1958 s. 18" fails three ways at once: no italics on title and year, no jurisdiction, and a stop after the "s". Right: Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) s 18.
- Pinpoints: sections of Acts as "s 18", clauses of Bills as "cl 83".
Journal articles (AGLC4 rr 5.1 to 5.7)
Correct example:
- Madeline Baker, 'Blue Sky Mine: Environmental Risk Disclosure in Australia' (2018) 35(5) Environmental and Planning Law Journal 519, 519
The errors:
- Double quotes on the article title. Article titles take single quotes, in roman type.
- Italics on the wrong element. The journal name is italicised, never the article title.
- A space in the volume and issue. 35 (5) is wrong; write 35(5) with no space.
- "p" before the page. Write the bare page number: 519, not p 519.
The author's name appears as it appears in the article, given name first in footnotes.
Books (AGLC4 rr 6.1 to 6.9)
Correct example:
- Linda Fisher and Mieke Brandon, Mediating with Families (Lawbook, 3rd ed, 2012) 115
The errors:
- "3rd edn" or "3rd edition". The abbreviation is "3rd ed".
- Publication details out of order. One parenthesis, comma-separated, in the order publisher, edition, year: (Lawbook, 3rd ed, 2012).
- An ampersand between authors. Two authors are joined by "and", not "&".
The six shapes at a glance
One correct example of each source type from this page, in a table you can keep beside your footnotes:
| Source type | Correct form |
|---|---|
| Reported case | Australian Woollen Mills Pty Ltd v The Commonwealth (1953) 92 CLR 424 |
| Medium-neutral case | Howarth v Miotti [2009] QSC 96, [141] |
| Act | Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld) s 2 |
| Bill | Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 (Cth) cl 83 |
| Journal article | Madeline Baker, 'Blue Sky Mine: Environmental Risk Disclosure in Australia' (2018) 35(5) Environmental and Planning Law Journal 519 |
| Book | Linda Fisher and Mieke Brandon, Mediating with Families (Lawbook, 3rd ed, 2012) 115 |
A closing habit
Before you submit, scan your footnotes once for full stops inside abbreviations, once for italics (case names and Act titles and years italic; jurisdictions, Bills and article titles roman), and once for brackets around years and paragraph pinpoints. Those three passes catch nearly everything on this page.
If you want to practise these patterns rather than just read them, Legal Writing Lab has a free AGLC4 citation practice mode built from exactly these curated rules. It drills the wrong and right forms with fresh examples until the pattern sticks.