Government

With 3 levels of government, Australia can generate some complex style questions for public sector organisations. Mostly this relates to the capitalisation of titles, but governments also have preferences for how you refer to them and some of their functions.

Capitals

Use title case for full titles and lower case for generic ones

Department of Education

the department

The first government style question relates to use of capital letters. Traditionally, government institutions were prone to using capitals in all references to organisations and positions. Contemporary style uses title case only when giving the full title or name of:

a government, department, agency or minister
a local council.

For governments, this can include the official title for a jurisdiction (such as ‘Government of South Australia’) and a specific abbreviated form that is in common use (such as ‘SA Government’).

There is no need to use capitals in other contexts just because they involve government agencies. Use lower case for:

short or generic forms of a title
adjectival or plural forms of words like ‘government’, ‘department’ and ‘state’.

Full title	Generic reference
Australian Government	the government
NSW Government	the government
Department of Health	the department
Law Reform Commission	the commission
Minister for Youth and Sport	the minister
City of Gold Coast Council	the council

The Minister for Emergency Services will visit the affected area today. A press conference will include the minister, department officials and council representatives.

All states and territories have government funding for aged care.

She held senior positions at state and local government levels.

We are taking a whole-of-government approach.

Both departments will contribute staff for the project.

Federal government

Use ‘Australian Government’ rather than ‘Commonwealth Government’

Australian Government

the federal government

There is common confusion about the right referencing for Australia's national government. Use these official forms:

Full title	Generic reference
Government of Australia Australian Government	the government
Department of Home Affairs	the department
Minister for Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister	the minister

Avoid ‘Commonwealth Government’ for Australia's national government, because people tend to associate the word ‘Commonwealth’ with the international Commonwealth of Nations, not the Commonwealth of Australia.

More informally, you can also use ‘federal government’ in lower case.

When bidding for the Commonwealth Games, the state approached the Australian Government for a substantial funding contribution.

A representative from the federal government should open the conference.

State and territory governments

Only abbreviate those jurisdictions with an established initialism

Queensland Government

NSW Government

Use the following forms for state and territory governments. Note that for those jurisdictions with an accepted initialism (ACT, NSW, NT, SA and WA), you can use it in a formal reference.

Full title	Generic reference
Northern Territory Government NT Government	the government
Department of Finance	the department
Minister for Early Childhood Education	the minister

Informally, you can also say ‘state government’ or ‘territory government’ in lower case, although it usually isn’t necessary.

The Tasmanian Government announced the new measures on Monday. The government will fund the program through tax increases.

Local government

Watch out for ‘Council’ without an article

City of Perth Council

the council

Use these forms for local government:

Full title	Generic reference
Waroona Shire Council	the council
Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council	the community council

But note that many councils refer to themselves simply as ‘Council’, with a capital letter and without the preceding article ‘the’. This is fine, as long as you’re consistent and the meaning is clear to your readers.

Cyan City Council will hold community consultation sessions next month. The council plans to upgrade facilities in all green spaces.

At its ordinary meeting on 26 July, Council decided the matter.

Exceptions

Keep capitals on words that have other meanings outside the government sector

the Cabinet

the House

Some terms and functions have a specific meaning in government, but a more generic meaning in the wider community. It is best to capitalise these to clarify when you are using the government term.

Term	Meaning
the Cabinet	a select group of ministers for high-level decision-making
the House	either of the parliamentary houses (the House of Representatives or the Senate)
the Treasury	the department that sets economic policy

Traditionally, the word ‘budget’ has also been capitalised when it describes the annual estimates of government income and spending that Parliament approves. You can often use lower case as long as your meaning is clear – although Treasury departments tend to capitalise their Budget.

Yesterday’s Cabinet decision will affect the figures in the draft budget papers.

See also: Forms of address, Lower case, Organisation names, Title case