Citing and referencing: Government sources

A guide to the styles recommended by Monash schools and departments for students and researchers

Government sources

Government documents with no clear personal author

To facilitate shorter parenthetical citations, government departments and agencies may be cited under their acronym. In this case, also alphabetise the source under the acronym in the reference list. The Chicago Manual of Style does not require that access dates be included in references to formally published online sources. However, students may be required to include them for assessment tasks.

Note that abbreviations to Australian states and territories follow the  Australia Post Address Presentation Standards on page 24.

Rules for Citation

(Organisation's Acronym Year of Publication, Page or Pages)

Example of Citation entry

(AIHW 2003, 20)

Rule for Reference list

Acronym (Organisation’s Name). Year of Publication. Title of Work: Subtitle of Work. Catalogue Number. Place of Publication. URL.

Example of Reference list entry

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare). 2003. Young Homeless People in Australia 2001-02: A Report from the SAAP National Data Collection. AIHW cat. no. HOU 87. Canberra, ACT. aihw.gov.au/getmedia/71203167-30cc-4bdb-a9ff-d4cef1c785af/yhpa01-02.pdf.aspx?inline=true.

 

Government documents with personal authors acknowledged on the title page

List up to three authors in the notes and the bibliography. For four or more authors, list only the first followed by et al. in the notes. For more information on listing multiple authors see Journals and periodicals. Government documents commonly include a catalogue number. Note that a government organisation, agency, or department is often listed as the publisher of a document.

Rule for Citation

(First Author’s Surname, and Subsequent Authors’ Surnames. Year of Publication, Page or Pages)

Example of Citation entry

(Goodrum, Hackling, and Rennie 2001, 5)

Rule for Reference list

First Author’s Surname, First Author’s Given Name, and Subsequent Authors’ Full Names. Year of Publication. Title of Work: Subtitle of Work. Catalogue Number. Organisation, Agency or Department’s Name, Place of Publication. URL.

Example of Reference list entry

Goodrum, Denis, Mark Hackling, and Leonie Rennie. 2001. The Status and Quality of Teaching and Learning of Science in Australian Schools. DETYA No. 6623DRED00A. Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Canberra, ACT.

 

Australian Bureau of Statistics

Rule for Citation

(Organisation’s Acronym Year of Publication, Page or Pages)

Example of Citation entry

(ABS 2012, 5)

Rule for Reference list

Acronym (Organisation’s Name). Year of Publication. Title of Work. Catalogue Number. Place of Publication. URL.

Example of Reference list entry

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics). 2012. Australian Social Trends, December 2012. Cat. no. 4102.0. Canberra, ACT. http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features1Dec%202012?OpenDocument.