Cases
Reported judgments, medium neutral citations, unreported decisions, transcripts and submissions under Chapter 2.
Case citations tell your reader where to find a judgment.
AGLC4 recognises three main ways to cite cases, and the format depends on where the judgment can be found.
Choosing the correct citation format
Before citing a case, ask:
1. Has the case been reported?
If the judgment appears in a law report series, use the reported citation.
Where an authorised report exists, it should always be preferred. Examples of authorised reports include:
- Commonwealth Law Reports (CLR)
- Federal Court Reports (FCR)
- authorised state reports
2. If not, does the case have a medium neutral citation?
If the case has been assigned a medium neutral citation by the court, use that citation.
Medium neutral citations are commonly used for recent Australian decisions that have not yet been published in a report series.
3. If neither exists
Use the court, judge and date format for an unreported decision.
| Question | Citation format |
|---|---|
| Is there an authorised report? | Use the reported citation |
| No report, but the court assigned a citation number? | Use the medium neutral citation |
| Neither exists? | Use court, judge and date format |
Do not use parallel citations
Australian cases are not cited using multiple parallel citations. Use only the most authoritative available version.
For example, if a case appears in an authorised report, do not also include the medium neutral citation.
Case names
The case name is always written in italics. The parties are separated by an italicised v, and the v does not have a full stop.
General rules for case names:
- Use only the surname of individual parties.
- Do not include given names or initials.
- Include only the first plaintiff and first defendant.
- Do not use abbreviations such as & Anor or & Ors.
- If there are multiple proceedings involving the same parties, cite only the first proceeding unless a distinction is needed.
- Do not use full stops in abbreviations within party names.
Reported cases
A reported case citation contains:
- Case name
- Year
- Volume number (if applicable)
- Report series abbreviation
- First page of the case
- Pinpoint reference (if required)
The year appears in square brackets where the report series is organised by year, or in round brackets where the series is organised by volume number.
The general format is:
Case Name (year) volume Report abbreviation first page, pinpoint. · Case Name [year] Report abbreviation first page, pinpoint.
Naming the court
The court name is usually not included in a reported case citation, because the report series identifies the court.
If the court needs to be identified, it can be added in parentheses after the pinpoint.
Medium neutral citations
A medium neutral citation is assigned by the court itself. It does not depend on a publisher or law report series.
Medium neutral citations are commonly used for recent judgments before they have been reported.
Unlike reported cases, pinpoints are always paragraph numbers because there are no report page numbers.
Case Name [year] Court identifier judgment number, [paragraph] (Judge).
Reading that citation
That example breaks down as:
- Re Alderton [No 2]
- case name
- [2019]
- year
- HCA
- High Court of Australia
- 7
- seventh judgment issued by that court in that year
- [57]
- paragraph 57
- (Netherfield J)
- judge
Common court identifiers
Some commonly used identifiers are:
| Court | Identifier |
|---|---|
| High Court of Australia | HCA |
| Federal Court of Australia | FCA |
| Full Federal Court | FCAFC |
| Supreme Court of New South Wales | NSWSC |
| Supreme Court of Victoria | VSC |
| Court of Appeal | NSWCA / VSCA |
A full list of court identifiers appears in AGLC4 Appendix B, and in the Abbreviations Index in Pincite.
Unreported cases without a medium neutral citation
Some older cases were never published in a law report and were not assigned a medium neutral citation by the court.
For these cases, the citation identifies the case by providing the case name, the court, the judge, the date of the decision and the pinpoint page number.
Unlike medium neutral citations, the pinpoint refers to a page number, because these decisions are usually available as transcripts or copies of the judgment rather than paragraph-numbered judgments.
Case Name (Court, Judge, day month year) pinpoint.
Transcripts and submissions
AGLC4 also provides citation formats for materials connected with court proceedings, including transcripts of proceedings and written submissions filed by parties.
These sources are cited differently from judgments because they are not decisions of the court.
Transcripts
A transcript citation includes the words Transcript of Proceedings, the case name, the court, the file number, the judge, the date and the pinpoint reference.
Transcript of Proceedings, Case Name (Court, file number, Judge, date) pinpoint.
Written submissions
Written submissions are cited with the party who prepared the submission as the author.
The citation includes the party or organisation, the title of the submission, the case name, the file number, the date and the pinpoint reference.
Other case-related materials
Chapter 2 of AGLC4 also covers several less common types of case-related materials, including:
- proceedings that have not yet been decided;
- court orders;
- administrative decisions of tribunals; and
- domestic arbitral awards.
The correct citation format depends on the type of material being cited. The Document Index entry for each one sets out its elements in full.
Related Index entries
Reported caseUnreported decision (medium neutral citation)Unreported decision (no medium neutral citation)Proceedings (case not yet decided)Court orderAdministrative / tribunal decisionArbitral award (domestic)Transcript of proceedingsSubmission in a caseLast reviewed 4 August 2026