Australia \u00b7 Law

AGLC4 Referencing Basics for Australian Students

A practical starting point for Australian law students who need to understand the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, fourth edition.

Reviewed 2026-09-23Australia & UK student resource

Quick answer

A practical starting point for Australian law students who need to understand the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, fourth edition.

What AGLC4 does

AGLC4 is a legal citation style used in Australian legal study. It is built around footnotes and source-specific conventions rather than the author–date pattern used by APA.

Start with the source type

Identify whether you are citing a case, legislation, book, journal article, report, website or another source. The citation format depends on that source type.

Common checks

Make sure case names, legislation titles, years, court information and pinpoint references are accurate. Do not invent a citation because a similar source uses a different format.

  • Use footnotes consistently.
  • Check pinpoint references against the actual source.
  • Keep your bibliography and footnotes consistent with your faculty requirements.
  • Use your law school or unit guide when it gives a requirement that differs from a general example.

Before submission

Do a dedicated citation pass after you finish the substantive argument. Check every footnote, then check the bibliography, rather than relying only on an automated formatter.

Drag grip to reposition