Indigenous knowledges

Currently there is no guidance in the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th edition regarding referencing Indigenous knowledges. As a result, acknowledgment of an Indigenous author’s Country or language cannot correctly be inserted into an AGLC footnote.

If you would like to acknowledge an Indigenous Australian author’s Country or language, consider doing so in the text of your work, such as in the examples below:

• Eddie Cubillo (Larrakia, Wadjigan and Central Arrente), discussed the 30th Anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody ...
• Yanyuwa woman Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said in her first speech to Federal Parliament...
• Wiradjuri scholar Sandy O’Sullivan writes...

Generally only attribute a Country or language group to an author who has self-identified as such in, for example a biographical note to an article or on a personal website. Wikipedia is not a good source for such things as it can be edited by other people and may be incorrect.

For more information about citing Indigenous knowledges, see the Indigenous Referencing Guidance for Indigenous Knowledges Toolkit. While the second half of the guide provides examples using APA7 style, the first half provides decision making tools for assessing content and authorship.

Should future updates to the Australian Guide to Legal Citation provide an approved method for referencing Indigenous knowledges, that method should be followed in preference to anything suggested here.