Skip to Main Content

Self Paced Lesson - Migration - Legal Citation - Subject Guide: 4: Regulations

 

NOTICE: This guide is currently under review, with a new guide to be launched before Semester 1, 2025. In the meantime, please direct any queries or feedback about this guide to the Library's Digital Experience via our Enquiry and Feedback form.

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:

 

Short title + year + jurisdiction + pinpoint reference
Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) regs 2.01–2.02
 

 

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).