Quotations
Short quotes and long ones, the 30 word line between them, and how to mark what you changed.
A quotation reproduces the original exactly, apart from the small alterations r 1.2.2 allows. How you lay it out depends only on how long it is.
The line is 30 words
Under 30 words, the quotation stays in your sentence, inside double quotation marks (r 1.2.2(a)(i)).
At 30 words or more, it becomes its own indented block in a smaller font, with no quotation marks at all (r 1.2.2(a)(ii)).
This is a word count, so it is exact. You do not have to guess how the passage will fall on the page.
| Under 30 words | 30 words or more | |
|---|---|---|
| Layout | inline, part of your sentence | indented both margins, smaller font |
| Quotation marks | double “…” | none |
| Introduced by | your own sentence | a colon |
| Footnote number | end of your sentence | immediately after that colon |
Where the closing punctuation goes
A full stop, question mark or exclamation mark sits inside the quotation marks only if you are quoting a whole sentence. Otherwise it goes outside.
A comma that belongs to your sentence rather than the quotation always goes outside.
Quotations inside quotations
Inside a short quotation, a nested quotation takes single marks. Inside a long one, where there are no outer marks at all, a nested quotation takes double marks (r 1.2.2(b)(i)).
This is the opposite way round from AGLC4, so it is worth checking if you have written Australian footnotes before.
The long form needs a colon and the footnote number
End the sentence introducing a long quotation with a colon, and put the footnote number immediately after that colon, before the quotation begins. Leave a blank line above and below the quotation.
Where you are quoting from the start of a numbered paragraph of a judgment, include the paragraph number in the quotation. Do not then repeat it as a pinpoint in the footnote.
Marking what you changed
Anything you alter is marked, so the reader can see the original through your edit.
- Omission
- An ellipsis with a space either side. Not in brackets, and never a full stop after it (r 1.2.2(b)(v)).
- Starting mid-sentence
- Open the quotation with an ellipsis. New Zealand requires this where AGLC4 forbids it.
- Alteration
- Square brackets around anything you insert or correct.
- An error in the original
- [sic] after the mistake, and only where it matters that the author wrote it.
- Your own italics
- “(emphasis added)” in the footnote, after the citation (r 1.2.2(b)(iv)).
- Dropped references
- “(citations omitted)” or “(footnotes omitted)” in the footnote. They are different things.
Last reviewed 6 August 2026