Tables

Tables are extremely useful for presenting information that falls into a consistent pattern or relationship. They also add visual interest and help to break up a page. But don’t introduce tables just to improve the text's appearance. Make sure they present your content more effectively than words alone.

Text-based content

Align text to the left and use shortened forms to save space

We have been using tables for numerical data for some time. But in recent years, tables have also become common for text-based information, such as:

a sequence of events
the steps in a process
a summary of feedback
analysis of options.

Options considered	Advantages	Disadvantages
Option 1	Quickest delivery timeframe	Likely compromise of quality
Option 2	Sufficient quality for market	Some delay in reaching market
Option 3	Longest delivery timeframe	Risk of losing current market share

When formatting text in a table, left-align it for easy reading. Where you need to save space, you can also shorten some elements:

phrases such as ‘for example’ and ‘that is’ to their Latin abbreviations	‘eg’ and ‘ie’
dates to the DD-MM-YY format	31-12-16
Australian state and territory names to their accepted abbreviations	NSW, Vic, NT, WA, etc
large dollar amounts to their accepted abbreviations	$5m or $6b
the word ‘and’ to the ampersand	Policies & procedures

Numerical content

Align numerical values to the right or the decimal point

Tables are perfect for presenting small sets of numerical data (up to around 20 elements). While the surrounding format for a numerical table will be as for a text table, there are some differences to watch for when aligning numbers.

Right-align whole numbers. Align decimals and dollar-cent amounts on the decimal point.

Period	Usage (Kl)	Charge
First period	87	$95.70
Second period	120	$132.00
Third period	176	$193.60
Fourth period	162	$181.44

Headings

Keep headings simple and align them to the left in most cases

Add short, precise headings to your table rows or columns. If you feel you need both, your content might be better split between 2 tables.

Generally left-align your headings, especially those that sit over text. For a column of right-aligned numbers, however, your heading might look better aligned to the right as well.

If you have 2 levels of headings stacked together, you might need to centre the top level to make the relevant groupings clear.

Titles and notes

Add a title for cross-referencing and a notes row for sourcing, if needed

A table doesn’t always need a title if the preceding body text introduces it clearly. But you might add one to aid cross-referencing later in your text. Put the title immediately above the table and use this format:

Table 3: Traffic offences by age group, 2018–19

Cite the source in a row that extends across the bottom of the table. Use this format:

Source: Department of Transport, Annual Report 2018–19, p 18.

Design

Remove outside borders and pad cells for extra white space

MS Word offers a default table style that is heavy on borders and tight on spacing, although you can vary this using the other in-built styles.

The ASG recommends a clean table design that uses formatting to clarify the data and how it relates. Have a purpose for every drop of ink (or pixel) and the space that surrounds it. Some useful tips are to:

remove the outside table borders that add little value
apply some bold or shading to the header row so it stands out clearly
add a small amount of padding to the cells to create extra white space.

The amount of padding will depend on whether you’ve applied paragraph spacing to your table text style.

See also: Accessibility in MS Word, Alt text, Ampersands &, Dates, Latin words, Money