AGLC 5


The Australian Guide to Legal Citation (‘AGLC’) is the authoritative legal citation guide within Australia and is widely used by practitioners, law students and academics.

Having identified the need for improvement in several key areas listed below, the Melbourne University Law Review and the Melbourne Journal of International Law are embarking on preparing a new edition of the AGLC, spearheaded by the AGLC 5 Committee (‘Committee’).

As part of these efforts, the Committee is now seeking feedback from stakeholders and the general public. We invite you to submit any feedback to aglc-5@unimelb.edu.au by 31 October 2023.

  • General Feedback Wanted

    Making the AGLC more comprehensive

    In our view, the AGLC currently fails to provide guidance in a range of common, and less common, scenarios. We are looking for feedback detailing your experiences of not finding a definitive answer in the current AGLC so that we can fill those gaps.

    Improving the structure of the AGLC

    Currently, certain structural elements of the AGLC are less intuitive than they could be and provide for difficulties in navigation. Any suggestions on structural changes to address these issues are sought.

    Where possible, simplifying the AGLC and improving its useability

    While comprehensiveness is a key goal of the AGLC, the guide is currently unnecessarily complicated and your feedback on this issue would be of great assistance to the Committee

  • Specific Feedback Wanted

    Citing First Nations materials and making space for the decolonisation of legal scholarship

    We acknowledge that the AGLC currently provides little assistance on citing non-settler legal materials and plays a limited active role in encouraging the decolonisation of legal scholarship. We are looking for your feedback on the extent to which the AGLC should take up this role and what measures might be desirable.

    Developing a practice-oriented approach to promote use of the AGLC amongst practitioners

    Acknowledging the sometimes limited use of the AGLC by legal practitioners, we are interested in hearing your thoughts on how the guide might be updated to spread its use and make it more attractive for legal practitioners.

    Updating rules on internet materials and moving the AGLC into the digital age

    While the current AGLC contains some provisions relating to digital and online sources, the Committee prioritises updating the AGLC to keep up with technological developments such as Artificial Intelligence and account for the increasing range and importance of online materials.

    Using gender-inclusive and culturally-sensitive language and examples

    We are concerned that the AGLC does not adequately provide guidance for dealing with materials that are not gender-inclusive or culturally-sensitive, and that the AGLC itself might use language or examples that require improvement. This is another key priority for the AGLC 5.