If you ’ re unsure of how to spell a word , refer to the Macquarie Dictionary . The first usage that appears in the dictionary is the preferred spelling in Australian English . Australian English includes word endings like – re instead of – er ( metre ), – ise instead of – ize ( specialise ) and – our instead of – or ( labour ).
For words that have multiple potential spellings , hyphenation and capitalisation , the preferred styles for UNSW are listed below .
A
Aboriginal peoples or communities Use an uppercase ‘ A ’ when talking about Aboriginal people . For the plural form , use ‘ peoples ’ or ‘ communities ’. Start with a lowercase letter when talking about the original inhabitants of other regions . Do not use the term ‘ Aboriginal ’ to refer to groups that include Torres Strait Islander people .
ageing , ageist , ageism
aide-de-camp , aides-de-camp
Alzheimer ’ s disease
Antarctica or the Antarctic ‘ Antarctic ’ ( without ‘ the ’) is the adjective
Art & Design Use title case and an ampersand when referring to the faculty
Arts & Social Sciences Use title case and an ampersand when referring to the faculty
attorney-general , attorneys-general
Australian government
B
bachelor ' s degree
board Not ‘ Board ’
burqa Not ‘ burkha ’ or ‘ burka ’
C
campuses the names of UNSW ' s main campuses are ‘ UNSW Kensington ’, ‘ UNSW Paddington ’ and ‘ UNSW Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy ’ ( subsequently ‘ UNSW Canberra at ADFA ’)
cannot chairperson Do not use ‘ chairman ’ or ‘ chairwoman ’
child care ( noun ), child-care ( adjective )
common sense ( noun ), commonsense ( adjective )
commander-in-chief , commanders-in-chief
Commonwealth supported student Not ‘ HECS student ’
Communist , Communism
contrast Use ‘ contrast with ’, not ‘ contrast to ’
cooperate , cooperative
Co-op Program
co-opt
coordinate
corequisite
counterproductive
courses Not ‘ subjects ’
coursework antidepressant carbon dioxide Spell out rather than using CO 2 court martial , courts martial archaeology Celsius Spell out ‘ 24 degrees Celsius ’
Crohn ’ s disease arm ’ s length ( predicative adjective , such as ‘ at arm ’ s length ’), arm ’ s-length ( attributive adjective , such as ‘ arm ’ s-length agreement ’) century Lowercase for the ‘ 20th century ’, ‘ eighth century ’, ‘ first century BC ’ and so on . The 21st century began on 1 January 2001 ( not 2000 ).
Writing Style Guide | Spelling 57 | Back to contents