In most Australian contexts, use single quote marks to quote spoken or written words verbatim. Avoid quotes if you’re paraphrasing the words. (Of course, if your paraphrase is very close to the actual text, you are better off citing it verbatim than plagiarising it.)
The main exception to single quote marks is the media and some publishing houses, which in Australia use double quote marks. So if you’re writing a text for the media, such as a press release, you are better off formatting it in line with what they prefer.
In either case, put the quote marks:
- outside other punctuation, if it’s part of the original quote
- inside other punctuation, if it’s part of the surrounding sentence.
However, always put the final full stop after the closing quote mark, unless the quoted material stands alone as a full sentence.
‘Complaints are up by 18% this quarter,’ said the manager. ‘What on earth is going on?’
The business analyst argued, ‘We must press ahead with all 3 projects.’
‘What did he mean’, asked the intern, ‘when he said that we all must tighten our belts?’
Wendy noted, ‘The boss told me on Friday, “The delays have cost around $20,000 already”.’