Government writing in Australia

Government documents have traditionally been written in a formal style to communicate the authority of the government. But a formal style and language can be difficult for people with lower levels of English-language reading skills to understand. It therefore may reduce the effectiveness of communication with the public.

Government writing is moving towards a less formal and more personal style. It should be:

  • respectful
  • clear and direct
  • objective and impartial.

The Australian Government style manual(Opens in a new tab/window) outlines the standard for Australian Government writing and editing. Governments of Australian states and territories also provide guidance for developing digital content and services, and many of these are publicly available online. The Australian Government Content strategy guide(Opens in a new tab/window) provides higher-level guidance and templates for government entities to plan, create and maintain their content.

Legal writing

There is a growing trend towards plain-language legal writing. But legal language must still be precise. The challenge of much of legal writing is to capture an exact meaning that will be binding in law, while still trying to be as clear and understandable as possible.

The plain-language movement in legal writing has many benefits for both writers and readers:

  • Financial. Plain-language documents can save money by reducing staff time (e.g. fewer client questions and mistakes in forms, as well as lower page count in many cases).
  • Legal. Plain-language documents can reduce litigation risk by lowering the risk that a counterparty will claim that they did not understand their obligations under a legal document; the courts have ruled in the past that unclear documents are not valid. Additionally, the effort of putting words into plain language often reveals mistaken assumptions and faulty logic that ‘legalese’ might hide.
  • Ethical and access to justice. Plain-language documents help more people, including non-native English speakers and people with limited literacy, to understand their rights and responsibilities under the law, as well as the advice of their legal representation.
  • Reputational and client relationship. Clients appreciate plain-language documents, because clear language makes them more confident in their position and demonstrates that their legal counsel is taking their needs into consideration.

Tips to achieving plain legal language

  • Ask yourself whether a technical or archaic term that you are using has a particular meaning that cannot be conveyed with a more common term; if not, use the simpler term (e.g. due to the fact that can be replaced with because). (See Cutting long sentences for more information on how to identify and reduce wordiness.)
  • Replace double negatives with single positives (e.g. replace not insubstantial with substantial and not unlikely with likely).
  • Do not insert definitions when they are not necessary (e.g. if the document defines a week as the usual calendar week of 7 days, do not specify this).
  • Keep sentences short – the maximum length for technical writing is 25 words. Each sentence should clearly state the key decision or advice to be communicated. Most importantly, it should make just 1 point or have 1 idea. Qualifications and provisos should be stated separately, instead of being packed into the same sentence.
  • If using the pronouns it or they, make sure you clearly indicate what they refer to.

  • Use a serial comma wherever there is any doubt about the interpretation of items in a series.

    Without a serial comma:
    The principal must ensure the safety of all students, teachers, administrative staff and parents working in the canteen. [Unclear: does this refer to the safety only of administrative staff who work in the canteen, or of all administrative staff?]

    With a serial comma:
    The principal must ensure the safety of all students, teachers, administrative staff, and parents working in the canteen. [Clear: this refers to all administrative staff, and parents who work in the canteen.]

  • Use semicolons to help readers digest information. Semicolons also provide a higher level of punctuation for sentences that contain quite a few commas.

    Clear exit signs must be displayed in the lobby; each room, including bathrooms; transit areas, including halls and the loading dock; and all stairwells.

  • Carefully check your work. You can take a break from it before reading it again, or ask a colleague to read it to ensure that it is clear and unambiguous. Reading your work aloud is a good way to see if each sentence is as clear as it can be.