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APA 6th referencing style

A guide to using the APA 6th referencing style.

About referencing legislation

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association refers to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation for referencing legislation. However, this does not cover Australian materials. 

For Australian legislation, the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (3rd ed.) has been used. The examples for this guide are based on this format.

Act

Elements of the reference

Short Title of the Act - italicised Year - italicised (Jurisdiction abbreviation) s. Subdivision number - if applicable. Retrieved from http://www.xxxxxx

Long title should only be used if there is no short title.

In-text reference

(Major Events Act 2014 (Qld) s. 3)

Major Events Act 2014 (Qld) states that ....

EndNote: In Edit & Manage Citations, choose Exclude Year in Formatting. Then in Suffix field, type space (Qld) and OK.

Reference list

Major Events Act 2014 (Qld). Retrieved from https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/inforce/current/act-2014-060

EndNote reference type

Electronic Book

Add Act title Year to Title field

Add Jurisdiction abbreviation to Year field

Bill

Elements of the reference

Short Title of the Bill Year (Jurisdiction abbreviation) s. Subdivision number - if applicable. Retrieved from http://www.xxxxxx

Long title should only be used if there is no short title

In-text reference

Healthy Futures Commission Queensland Bill 2017 (Qld) s. 23

As found in the Healthy Futures Commission Queensland Bill (2017, s. 23) .....

EndNote: In Edit & Manage Citations, add comma space s. 23 in Suffix box. Convert to Plain Text as last step. Edit in-text reference to remove quotation marks and add brackets around jurisdiction.

Reference list

Healthy Futures Commission Queensland Bill 2017 (Qld) s. 23. Retrieved from https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/bill.first/bill-2017-007

EndNote reference type

Web page

Add jurisdiction abbreviation to Year field

Add section to Edition field

Parliamentary debates (Hansard)

Elements of the reference Jurisdiction. Parliamentary debates. Chamber. Day Month Year. Volume. Retrieved from http://xxx.xxxxx
In-text reference

(Commonwealth, 2010)

Go to "dit and Management Citations in Word and add , Year to Suffix text box

Reference list

Commonwealth. Parliamentary debates. Senate. 2 February 2010. 1. Retrieved from http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/chamber/hansards/2010-02-02/toc_pdf/7347-8.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%222010s%202010%22

EndNote reference type

Unpublished work.

Add Chamber to Department field

Add Day Month Year to Date field

Add Volume number to Place Published field

Australian jurisdiction abbreviations

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

Source: (Melbourne University Law Review Association & Melbourne Journal of International Law, 2010, p. 65).