Sources and references
The Victorian Government uses:
- the Australian Government Style Manual (AGSM) for decisions about grammar, usage, structure and referencing
- the Macquarie Dictionary for spelling
We also use these additional resources on specific topics.
Victorian government-specific guidance
Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners and Welcome to Country
Find out who and if you should do a Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners for your event.
Apolitical language
Victorian Government writing must be clearly distinguishable from party-political messages. It must not use party-political slogans, images or language.
Examples:
| Use these terms | Don't use these terms |
|---|---|
✓ Victorian Government ✓ state government | ✗ Labor Government ✗ state Labor government ✗ Allan Government |
Numerals in text
Traditionally small numerals ranging from one to nine were spelled out in Victorian Government publications.
Recent research and advice from accessibility and content experts advises that numerals for ‘2’ and above are easier to read and scan than words. This change has been reflected in the Australian Government Style Manual, along with the advice to continue to write the numbers ‘zero’ and ‘one’ in words.
However, numbers as words remains a convention that people expect in some types of Victorian Government content and can be used if the author believes it conveys the message best for the audience.
Victorian Government terms
Terms in the table below include some exceptions to guidance in the AGSM.
Use capitals for proper nouns, the start of sentences and official or abbreviated specific titles, but not for generic or plural references. Some exceptions apply.
| Proper noun | Generic form |
|---|---|
| Victorian Government | the government |
| Department of Premier and Cabinet (applies to all 10 departments) | … the department (department initialisms may be used in limited circumstances) |
Premier of Victoria former premier of Victoria former state minister | the Premier, Premier-elect former premier former minister |
| Minister for the Arts | the minister ministerial office minister's office |
| the Minister for Sport and the Minister for Ports | the ministers |
DPC Secretary Office of the Secretary | the Secretary the office |
| State of Victoria (as a legal entity) | the state |
State Government of Victoria Victorian Government (NOT the State Government, use the Victorian Government) | the government |
the Commonwealth Government or the Federal Government (NOT the Australian Government) Note, Victorian guidance differs to guidance in the AGSM Capitalisation is in line with the AGSM. Initial capital for Commonwealth, no capitalisation required for federal except at the start of a sentence. | no generic form in the Victorian context Use the Federal Government or the Commonwealth Government to avoid confusion with the Victorian Government |
Victorian Cabinet State Cabinet | the Cabinet |
2022/23 Victorian Budget The Budget prefers this format. It is an exception to AGSM guidance, which specifies that ranges of numbers use an en dash. | the State Budget the Budget successive state budgets budget provisions budgetary process |
| Department of Premier and Cabinet Annual Report 2022–23 | the annual report the report |
Victorian Parliament Parliamentary Library, Parliament House | the Parliament parliamentary procedures |
| Victorian Ombudsman | the Ombudsman |
ANZAC Change in capitalisation per ANZAC Day (Amendment) Act 2003 NOT Anzac (when used in context of Victorian ANZAC events, memorials and mentions). |
Capitalisation of other terms commonly used in government
- Act(s)
- the Bar
- the Bench
- Bill(s)
- Ordinance(s)
- Regulation(s)
- Traditional Owner
Capitalising names of policies and programs
Capitalise the titles of government policies or programs.
‘Policy’ or ‘program’ should only be capitalised where they are part of the official program or policy title.
Capitalisation for education
Year (e.g. Year 9, Years P to 12, Prep)
VCE subjects (e.g. Theatre Studies)
Departments
Departmental initialisms are widely used within government but not generally understood outside of government. Only use an initialism if the term is repeated a lot in a page or document.
- DE: Department of Education
- DEECA: Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action
- DFFH: Department of Families, Fairness and Housing
- DGS: Department of Government Services
- DH: Department of Health
- DJCS: Department of Justice and Community Safety Victoria
- DJSIR: Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions
- DPC: Department of Premier and Cabinet
- DTF: Department of Treasury and Finance
- DTP: Department of Transport and Planning
Former Victorian department names that occasionally appear:
- DET (training moved to DJSIR as of 1 January 2023)
- DHHS (split into DH and DFFH as of 1 February 2021)
- DEDJTR (split into DJPR and DoT as of 1 January 2019)
- DELWP (mostly formed into DEECA as of 1 January 2023)
- DJPR (mostly formed into DJSIR as of 1 January 2023)
- DoT (now DTP with Planning moved from DELWP as of 1 January 2023)
Forms of address
How to address members of the Parliament of Victoria
How to address government officials
Victorian Government ministers' naming preferences
Refer to the list of current ministers on the Parliament of Victoria website to check ministers' naming preferences.
Ministers may choose to use the title ‘The Honourable’ (abbreviated to 'the Hon'). This title is granted for life, so former ministers may also use the title. The title is optional; before use, check if a member is using the title on the Parliament of Victoria website.
The President of the Senate or Legislative Council and the Speaker may use the title ‘The Honourable’ while in office.
Victorian regions and place names
VICNAMES is Victoria’s official place names database.
You can use VICNAMES to check the correct spelling of places, roads and historical information about geographic places in Victoria.
The database has approximately 200,000 road names and 45,000 place names. This includes geographic features such as mountains, rivers, bounded localities such as suburbs and towns and physical infrastructure such as roads, reserves and schools.
VICNAMES is used to ensure that names are not duplicated, provide details on the location and extent on geographic features, localities and roads and to record or find historical information on place names.
Additional Victorian Government resources
Branding
All government departments, agencies and entities must comply with the Brand Victoria guidelines for logos, colours, fonts and co-branding.
Accessibility
- See our guide on making content accessible. For topics not covered by this guide, refer directly to the WCAG.
- See Accessible and inclusive content on the Australian Government Style Manual.
- The South Australian government's Online accessibility toolkit has been endorsed for use by all state governments.
Content in languages other than English
Refer to:
- Victorian Government digital guide on multilingual content for advice on developing and publishing multilingual content
- Communicating with multicultural communities for the downloadable 'Better practice guide for multicultural communications'.
Inclusive language
See our LGBTIQ+ Inclusive Language Guide to understand how to use language respectfully and inclusively.
The Australian Government Style Manual has a section on Inclusive language that covers:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Age diversity
- Cultural and linguistic diversity
- Gender and sexual diversity
- People with disability
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