Skip to Main Content

APA 7th Referencing

American Psychological Association, 7th edition

Legislation, bills, regulations format

Legislation

Legislation are laws that have been agreed to by parliament. 

 

Reference elements

Screenshot of an annotated reference of a legislation

In-text citation

  Format Example
Paraphrase

... (Title Year, Jurisdiction).

OR

Title Year (Jurisdiction) ...

... should be addressed with dignity (Aged Care Act 1997 Cth).

OR

According to the Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth) ...
Quote

"...." (Title Year Jurisdiction s. xx).

OR

Title Year (Jurisdiction) s. xx "...."

The law clearly states that "the right of the patient ..." (Medical Treatment Act 1988 Vic s. 43).

OR

The Medical Treatment Act 1988 (Vic) s. 43 states "the rights of the patient ...".
Note: 
  • The title of the legislation and the year should be italicised.
  • If you are quoting from the source, you must add the pinpoint (i.e. specific point in the source, e.g. section, article etc) to the end of the citation. See pinpoint abbreviations for more information.  
  • In the examples above, s. is the abbreviation for section. 

 

Reference

Format Example
Title Year (Jurisdiction)  Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth)
Note: 
  • The title of the legislation and the year should be italicised.

Bills

A Bill is a proposed law or a change to an existing law. It has not yet been agreed on by Parliament. 
 

Reference elements

Screenshot of an annotated reference of a bill 

In-text citation

  Format Example
Paraphrase

(Title Year Jurisdiction)

OR

Title Year (Jurisdiction)

... passed in Parliament (Transport Accident Further Amendment Bill 2013 Vic).

OR

As found in the Transport Accident Further Amendment Bill 2013 (Vic) ...
Quote

"..." (Title Year Jurisdiction s. xx).

OR

Title Year (Jurisdiction) s. xx "..."

The law provides "protection from pollution ..." (Environment Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 Cth s. 14).

OR

According to the Environment Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 (Cth) s. 14 "industry will ..."
Note: 
  • Bills in Australia are regarded as unpublished works, so the title is not italicised.
  • Each word in the title of the Bill should be capitalised.
  • If you are quoting from the source, you must add the pinpoint (i.e. specific point in the source, e.g. section, article etc) to the end of the citation. See pinpoint abbreviations for more information.  
  • In the examples above, s. is the abbreviation for section. 

 

Reference

Format Example
Title Year (Jurisdiction) Transport Accident Further Amendment Bill 2013 (Vic)

Regulations

A regulation can be cited and referenced using the same formatting as legislation. 

 

Reference elements

Screenshot of an annotated reference of a regulation

In-text citation

  Format Example
Paraphrase

... (Title Year Jurisdiction).

OR

Title Year (Jurisdiction) ...

... determines seniority in the police force (Police Regulations 2003 Vic).

OR

Police Regulations 2003 (Vic) describe the steps needed to qualify as a member of the police force. 
Quote

"...." (Title Year Jurisdiction pinpoint abbreviation).

OR

Title Year (Jurisdiction) pinpoint abbreviation "...."

Members can expect the possibility of "immediate transfer to any part of the State" (Police Regulations 2003 Vic r. 21. 1).

OR

Police Regulations 2003 (Vic) r. 14 states that "a protective services officer must obey any lawful instruction or order given by the Chief Commissioner ..." 
Note: 
  • Each word in the title of a regulation should be capitalised and italicised in the citation.
  • If you are quoting from the source, you must add the pinpoint (i.e. specific point in the source, e.g. section, article etc) to the end of the citation. See pinpoint abbreviations for more information.  
  • In the examples above, r. is the abbreviation for rule. 

 

Reference

Format Example

Title Year (Jurisdiction)

Police Regulations 2003 (Vic)
Note: 
  • Each word in the title of the regulation should be capitalised in the reference list, and the title and year should be italicised.

Local (Council) law

Local laws are developed by councils "to respond to issues and community needs within a municipality" (Know Your Council, 2015).  

Please see below for instructions on formatting references for local laws. The examples are loosely based on part 3.9.2 of the Melbourne University Law Review Association, (2018) The Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th. ed. They have been adapted to author-date style for the use of Holmesglen students and staff. 

Source:

Known Your Council. (2015). Local laws. The State of Victoria. https://knowyourcouncil.vic.gov.au/guide-to-councils/what-councils-do/local-laws

 

Reference elements

Annotated reference example for local council law

In-text citation

  Format Example
Paraphrase

... (Council Name, Year)

OR

Council Name (Year) ...

... are the objectives (Merri-bek City Council, 2018).

OR

According to the Merri-bek City Council (2018) ...
Quote

"...." (Council Name, Year, pt xx).

OR

Council Name (Year), pt xx "...."

The law clearly states that "person must not smoke a tobacco product in a smoke free area" (Merri-bek City Council, 2018, pt 4.1).

OR

Merri-bek City Council (2018), pt 8.15 states "a person must not light or allow any fire to be lit in the open air."
Note: 
  • If you are quoting from the source, you must add the pinpoint (i.e. specific point in the source, e.g. section, article etc) to the end of the citation. See pinpoint abbreviations for more information.  
  • In the examples above, p is the abbreviation for part. 

 

Reference

Format Example

Council Name, Title of Legislation (Report number if available, Day Month Year of commencement)

Merri-bek City Council, General Local Law 2018 (1 February 2018)

If it is a consolidated act (that is, it has been amended), use the following format:

Council Name, Title of Legislation (Report number if available, Amended Month Year)

Bayside City Council, Neighbourhood Amenity Consolidated Act (Local Law No 2, Amended April 2014)
Note: 
  • The title of the legislation should be italicised and capitalised.
  • Use the full date (Day Month Year) where available.

Australian jurisdiction abbreviations

Jurisdiction Abbreviation
Commonwealth (Federal government) Cth
Australian Capital Territory ACT
New South Wales NSW
Northern Territory NT
Queensland Qld
South Australia SA
Tasmania Tas
Victoria Vic
Western Australia WA

Pinpoint abbreviations

A pinpoint is used to refer to a specific point in the source. It is similar to using page numbers to refer to sections of a book. Use the following pinpoint abbreviations (depending on the designations given in the source) when creating your citation:

Designation Abbreviation
Appendix app.
Article art.
Chapter ch.
Clause cl.
Division div.
Paragraph para.
Part pt.
Regulation reg.
Rule r.
Schedule sch.
Section s.
Sub-clause sub-cl.
Subdivision sub-div.
Sub-paragraph sub-para.
Subsection sub-s.