Delegated legislation (for example, regulations, rules and orders) should be cited in the same manner as primary legislation (AGLC 3.4).
Citing delegated legislation
The essence of citing delegated legislation is:
In text example
Regulation 2.12 of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) sets out certain non-citizens whose applications may be refused in Australia.
Abbreviations
These abbreviations should be used to refer to pinpoints in delegated legislation (AGLC 3.4):
| Designation | Abbreviation | Plural | Abbreviation |
| Order | ord | Orders | ords |
| Regulation | reg | Regulations | regs |
| Rule | r | Rules | rr |
| Sub-regulation | sub-reg | Sub-regulations | sub-regs |
| Sub-rule | sub-r | Sub-rules | sub-rr |
Sub-regulations
Where a sub-regulation is cited, it should appear in parentheses after the regulation number with no space, as you would with a section and subsection.
The abbreviation should correspond to the highest ‘level’ cited in the pinpoint reference.
If the highest level of the pinpoint is to a regulation, the abbreviation to be used is ‘reg’.
Rule 3.1.4 of the AGLC elaborates further on the citation of pinpoint references in delegated legislation.
In text example
Members of a student’s family unit are defined as the partner and all unmarried dependent children less than 18 years of age under reg 1.12(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth).