AGLC4 Rule 1.4.6: Subsequent References within the Same Footnote

When a footnote cites the same source again, later pinpoints are introduced with "at" rather than a repeated citation, whether the source was first given in full, by ibid or by cross reference. "At" can only point to the source immediately before it; a pinpoint to an earlier source in the same footnote uses the cross reference form. An unchanged pinpoint is not repeated.

AGLC4 page 14

Formatting

  • "at" is lower case and roman, and follows a colon and a space: : at 2627.
  • Never use ibid to refer to a source earlier in the same footnote.
  • If the pinpoint is the same as the one immediately before, no "at" pinpoint is added.
  • Where the source relied on is not the immediately preceding one, use surname or short title with (n and the current footnote number).
  • Where one discursive sentence pinpoints the same source several times, each "at" pinpoint is followed by a semicolon before the sentence continues.
  • A signal may precede "at" after the colon, in lower case (rule 1.2).

Examples

Quoted from the Guide, page 14
  1. 92
    Commonwealth, Parliamentary Debates, Senate, 17 June 2008, 2626. The Minister explained that ‘[t]here may be a number of reasons that prevent a person’s immediate removal, … includ[ing] … issues surrounding the acquisition of the person’s travel documentation’: at 2627. [Not: … documentation’: ibid 2627.]
  2. 93
    Ibid 2625. The Minister noted that his Department had ‘grouped the data to prevent the identification, or potential identification, of any one person’. [Not: … any one person’: at 2625.]
  3. 94
    Associate Justice William J Brennan Jr, ‘In Defense of Dissents’ (1986) 37(3) Hastings Law Journal 427; Peter J Rees and Patrick Rohn, ‘Dissenting Opinions: Can They Fulfil a Beneficial Role?’ (2009) 25(3) Arbitration International 329. A dissenting opinion is important because it ‘safeguards the integrity of the judicial decision-making process by keeping the majority accountable’: Brennan Jr (n 94) 430. [Not: … majority accountable’: at 430.]
  4. 95
    Sullivan v Moody (2001) 207 CLR 562. The Court acknowledged that finding a duty may ‘cut across other legal principles’: at 580 [53]; meaning that it was ‘a question about [the] coherence of the law’: at 581 [55].

Not

Quoted from the Guide, page 14
  • … documentation’: ibid 2627.
    ibid cannot refer to a source earlier in the same footnote
  • … any one person’: at 2625.
    the pinpoint has not changed, so it is not repeated
  • … majority accountable’: at 430.
    "at" can only refer to the immediately preceding source

See also

Check your footnotes against these rules

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Formats, examples, passages, tables and the forms marked Not are quoted from the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th ed, Melbourne University Law Review Association, 2018), with the page of the Guide they appear on. Titles, summaries and explanations are our own.