Where British and American spellings differ, Australian spellings may reflect one or the other, sometimes inconsistently. Most often they follow the British conventions.

The table below compares common variations in Australian, British and American spellings.

For scientific terminology, follow the preferred spelling of an internationally accepted authority rather than using British or American spelling per se. Several chemical terms have different spellings in British and American English (e.g. aluminium/aluminum), for which the preferred spelling of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry should be used. See Chemistry terminology for further details.

Spelling variationAustralianBritishAmerican

-able/

‑eable

Generally drops e (e.g. lovable) but retains e in newly formed words (e.g. saleable)

Retains e when the verb ends in -ce or -ge (e.g. enhanceable, changeable)

VariableGenerally drops e
ae/e

Uses ae (e.g. at the beginning of a word or in the first syllable (e.g. aesthetic, faeces)

Uses e in the middle of a word (e.g. encyclopedia)

Uses aeUses e
-ed/-t

Uses -ed ending for verb past tense (e.g. he spelled it)

Uses both -ed and -t for past participles (e.g. it was spelled, it was built)

Uses -t for adjectives (e.g. spoilt, burnt)

Uses -t for past participle and adjectiveUses -ed for verb past tense and past participle
-ing/-eing

Generally drops e

Retains e when the word ends in -ge (e.g. ageing, hingeing)

VariableDrops e
-ise/-izeUses -iseUses both -ise and -izeUses -ize
l/llUses ll with 2-syllable verbs whether the first or second syllable is stressed (e.g. enrolled, travelled)Uses ll with 2-syllable verbs, whether the first or second syllable is stressedUses l on the second, unstressed syllable of a verb when -ed, -ing or -er is added (e.g. canceled, traveler)
-ment (verbs with -dge)Drops or retains e (e.g. acknowledgment, acknowledgement)Generally retains eGenerally drops e
oe/e

Uses oe (e.g. amoeba, oedema)

But fetal has become standard in medical usage (e.g. Fetal Medicine Association of Australia)

Uses oeUses e
-ogue/-ogUses -ogue (e.g. catalogue)Uses -ogueUses -og
-or/-ourUses -our (e.g. flavour)Uses -ourUses -or
program/
programme
Uses program for all contextsUses program when referring to software, and programme for all other contextsUses program for all contexts
-re/-erUses -re (e.g. centre, metre) except for words that are measuring instruments (e.g. gasometer, pedometer)Uses -re except for words that are measuring instrumentsUses -er for all such words
-se/-ceUses -se for verbs (e.g. practise) and -ce for nouns (e.g. practice)Uses -se for verbs and -ce for nounsUses -se for both verbs and nouns
-yse/-yzeUses -yse (e.g. analyse)Uses -yseUses -yze