Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 1
Contents
Under Care
Section 1: Department logo
4
1982 Aged
Section 2: Colours
7
Released
Act
Section 3: Typefaces
10
And
Section 4: Creative elements
12
Been mat
Been
Section 5: Imagery
17
Health
Ha fo
Has
Health
Of
Section 6: Application
19
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Aged Care Style Guide | Version 3 | December 2022
Page 2 of 32
2
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 1
Under Care
Section 1
1982 Aged
Department
Released
Act
And
Been mat
Been Health
Ha fo
Health
logo Has Of
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Page 3 of 32
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 1
Under Care
Section 2
1982 Aged
Released
Act
And
Colours
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Page 7 of 32
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 1
Under Care
Section 3
1982 Aged
Released
Act
And
Typefaces
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Page 10 of 32
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 1
Typefaces
Primary Typeface
System/Alternate Typeface
Under Care
Aa
1982 Aged
Released
Act
And
Aa
Been
Proxima Nova
Arial
Has
Health
Information
Of
Proxima Nova has been selected as the primary
Arial is the preffered system typeface for Department of Health
Of
typeface for all branded, external communications.
and Aged Care and may be used to replace Proxima Nova in
You will need an active Adobe membership to access
Microsoft Office programs such as Word and PowerPoint.
the font. It is available for download on Adobe Fonts.
Document
Department
This Freedom
•
Headings should be in
Proxima Nova - Bold
•
Headings should be in
Arial - Bold
•
Body copy should be in Proxima Nova - Regular
•
Body copy should be in Arial - Regular
The The
By
Aged Care Style Guide | Version 3 | December 2022
Page 11 of 32
11
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 1
Under
Section 4
Care
1982 Aged
Creative
Released
Act
And
Been
Health
elements
Has
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Page 12 of 32
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 1
Under Care
Section 5
1982 Aged
Released
Act
And
Imagery
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Page 17 of 32
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 1
Under Care
Section 6
1982 Aged
Released
Act
And
Application
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Page 19 of 32
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 1
Checklist
When creating any kind of communication material, check the steps on this
page to ensure consistency and to maintain the integrity of our visual identity.
Under Care
check Are you using the correct colour?
1982 Aged
Each outcome within the aged care reform has its
own unique colour as outlined in Section 3 - Colours.
Released
Act
And
These colours are housed within the corner arrow device
to represent the focus outcome of the content. Please
Been
ensure that the arrow selected corresponds to the
Health
relevant outcome, otherwise use the generic Teal arrow
Has
for the overarching outcome.
Information
Of
Of
check Are you using the correct template
?
Document
Templates are provided in each aged care reform outcome
Department
colour to ensure you are using the correct template for your
Freedom
content. Please do not alter these templates in any way
This
.
If you create a new template, please use this document as
The
The
a guide.
By
Aged Care Style Guide | Version 3 | December 2022
Page 31 of 32
31
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 1
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Need assistance
Been
?
Health
Please contact the department’s Design T
Has eam at xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx.xx
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Page 32 of 32
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 2
TYPOGRAPHY
Typography plays an important role in communicating an overall tone and quality. Careful use of
typography reinforces the identity and ensures clarity and harmony in al communications.
PRIMARY TYPEFACE
Body copy is set in Helvetica Neue Light. The minimum
font size for body copy set in Helvetica is 10pt. Captions
The primary Department of Health and Aged
can be set in 8pt. Leading refers to the spacing between
Care typeface is Helvetica Neue.
lines of type and as a general guide should be set at
Uses include:
two to three points above the body copy type size.
• headings
OFFICE FONTS
• sub headings
• intro copy and;
Where Helvetica Neue is not available, such as in
Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents, use
• body copy.
Under
Arial, also a sans-serif typeface. Arial is packaged
Care
These can be coloured with any of the
with Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.
accessible colours (see Section 4 Colour).
1982 Aged
Released
Act
And
HELVETICA NEUE
Bold
A B C
D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Been
a b c d e f g h i j k l m
Has
Health
n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Information
Of
Of Regular A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Document
a b c d e f g h i j k l m
Department n o p q r s t u v w x y z
This Freedom Light
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
The The
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
By
a b c d e f g h i j k l m
n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Figures
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Page 7 of 8
7
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 2
ARIAL
Regular
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m
n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Figures
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Typography example
Heading Helvetica Neue Bold 12pt
Helvetica Neue 12pt bold heading
with Helvetica Neue body copy,
Body copy set in Helvetica Neue Light 10pt. The minimum recommended font
Under
10pt size and 13pt leading.
size for body copy set in Helvetica is 10pt.
Care
Leading refers to the spacing between lines of type and as a general guide
should be set at two to three points abo
ve the b
ody copy type size. These
1982
paragraphs are set with 13pt leading, three points above the 10pt body copy.
Aged
Released
Act
And
Been Health
TYPOGRAPHY AND TEXT HIERARCHY
Has
Information
Of
Typographic hierarchy presents lettering so
Headings
that the most important words are displayed
Of
with the most impact so users can scan text for
Sub Heading Sentence Case
key information. Typographic hierarchy creates
contrast between elements. There are a variety of
SUB HEADING ALL CAPS
ways you can create a sense of hierarchy. Here
Document
are some of the most common techniques for
Intro/breakout copy
Department of Health and Aged Care layouts.
Freedom
Department
Body copy bold
This
Body copy
The The
By
Page 8 of 8
8
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 3
health.gov.au style guide
July 2024
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act
And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Page 1 of 13
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 3
We follow the Australian Government Style Manual and use the Macquarie Dictionary for
spelling and hyphenation guidance.
This document lists exceptions and terms and phrases specific to the Australian Government
Department of Health and Aged Care.
Contents
Use we/us/you ............................................................................................................................ 3
Formatting .................................................................................................................................. 3
Italics....................................................................................................................................... 3
Bold......................................................................................................................................... 3
Legislation .............................................................................................................................. 3
Under
Transcripts .............................................................................................................................. 3
Care
Abbreviations and acronyms .................................................................................................. 3
Capitalisation .............................................................................................................................. 3
1982
Aged
Committees ............................................................................................................................ 3
Released
Act
Reports, strategies, frameworks, plans ................................................................
And
................. 4
Job titles ................................................................................................................................. 4
Been
Publications ............................................................................................................................ 4
Health
Grammar and punctuation ......................................................................................................... 6
Has
Information
Of
Hyphens ................................................................................................................................. 6
Dashes ................................................................................................................................... 6
Of
List punctuation ................................
...................................................................................... 7
Percentage symbol ................................................................................................................ 7
Document
Organisations take singula
r verbs ......................................................................................... 7
Freedom
Department
Linking ........................................................................................................................................ 7
This
Link text .................................................................................................................................. 7
The The
Legislation .............................................................................................................................. 7
By
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health .............................................................................. 7
Aged care ................................................................................................................................... 8
Explaining Medicare ................................................................................................................... 8
Life Saving Drugs Program ........................................................................................................ 8
Word list ...................................................................................................................................... 8
health.gov.au style guide
2
Page 2 of 13
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 3
Use we/us/you
On health.gov.au, we/us means the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged
Care. Do not use ‘the department’ or ‘the Department’, or ‘the Department of Health and
Aged Care’. This is in line with the Style Manual advice to use personal pronouns (like ‘we’,
‘you’, ‘us’) when it suits the voice and tone.
Formatting
Italics
Do not use italics for emphasis. Follow Style Manual advice on italics.
Bold
Under
Avoid using bold for long sections of text. Use a callout instead.
Care
Legislation
1982 Aged
To ensure Acts of Parliament appear italicised, use the Cite style in GovCMS within the
source code.
Released
Act And
Ensure you identify the jurisdiction of the Act as e
ither n ational or state based by the lead in
sentence, not by using (Cth) or (NSW) Been
Linking to legislation – use the ‘latest’ link. Right click and copy the ‘go to latest’ link.
Health
Transcripts
Has
Information
Of
For audio/video resources follow this example.
Of
Abbreviations and acr
onyms
Spell out once per page. For abbreviations/acronyms used in the title, spell out either in the
Document
page title (preferred) or in the summary (if spelling it out in the title is too long). Add an s for
plural and an ‘s when possessive.
Department
This Freedom
Capitalisati
The
on
The
In general, use minimal capitals.
By
Committees
When referring to working parties, committees, expert panels and so on:
• Use title case for the full name of the group (e.g. Life Saving Drugs Program Expert
Panel).
• Use lowercase thereafter for general references to the group (e.g. ‘the panel
decided...’, ‘the committee met...’).
health.gov.au style guide
3
Page 3 of 13
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
Under Care
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been
Has
Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 3
List punctuation
We previously omitted the full stop at the end of bulleted lists because the DTA content guide
advised this. They have since changed that guidance and new style manual says to use full
stops at the end of fragment lists to end the sentence.
Percentage symbol
Use
% on the web, not ‘per cent’.
Organisations take singular verbs
References to committees, departments, organisations, companies and so on use singular
verbs and pronouns, not plural:
• ‘The committee is deciding’ not ‘The committee are deciding’
• ‘It is working on’ not ‘they are working on’
Under Care
Linking
Under
1982 Aged
Link text
Released
Act And
Write link text that makes the destination clear (see Style Manual). Don’t write ‘Click here’.
Write this: Register for the webinar
Been
Not this: To register for the webinar, click here.
Health And Aged Care
Has
Health
Information Act 1982
Legislation
Information
Of
Always link to the
latest version of the
Act or Regulation. For example:
Of
www.legislation.gov.au/Latest/C2019C00023 To get this URL, right-click on the ‘go to latest’ link in the top-right corner of an Act or
Regulation page This Document Has Been Released
More info: Federal Register information on linking
The Freedom Of
Document
Department
Link to a section within legislation if needed – In the table of contents, right-click on the
By The Department Of
Freedom
section and copy the URL. Take the last bit of the URL including the slash (for example:
This
/Text#_Toc12283716) and append it to the ‘latest’ URL (for example:
The The
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Latest/C2019C00199/Text#_Toc12283716)
By
The link text should be the name of the section. For example:
Part 3 – Home care services of the User Rights Principles 2014
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Staff Network have approved an editorial
style guide. Please refer to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health guide.
health.gov.au style guide
7
Page 7 of 13
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 3
Aged care
Aged Care have put out their own editorial style guide. Please refer to the aged care guide.
Explaining Medicare
•
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) – this scheme is
not part of Medicare.
You can say
a Medicare card gives you access to the PBS or something similar.
•
Free treatment as a public patient in hospital – not ‘free treatment as a public
patient in a
public hospital’.
This is because 40% of public patients are treated in private hospitals as part of
overflow when public hospitals are full or unavailable.
•
The public health system provides free hospital treatment as a public patient –
not Medicare.
Under Care
Life Saving Drugs Program Under
See the guides and templates in this folder: Life Saving Drugs Program.
1982 Aged
Word list
Released
Act And
This list shows how words have been presented on health gov.au and in Budget papers. We
aim for consistency with this list.
Been Health And Aged Care
A
Has
Health
Information Act 1982
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander terms and phrases – See the Aboriginal and Torres
Information
Of
Strait Islander health guide
Of
after hours – ‘care is available after hours’ but ‘after-hours care’, ‘after-hours primary care’
but ‘Primary Health Network After Hours Program’ (as they must have forgotten the hyphen
when they named it)
This Document Has Been Released
Document
aged care – See the aged care guide.
The Freedom Of
By The Department Of
Freedom
Department
antibiotic-resistant bacteria
This
anti-smoking campaign
The The
anti-vaping campaign
By
antiviral
Australian Centre for Disease Control
Australian Digital Health Agency
Australian Government (and then ‘government’ afterwards but not Commonwealth
Government or Federal Government)
age ranges – people 65 years and over; children aged 6 months to less than 5 years
health.gov.au style guide
8
Page 8 of 13
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 3
B
bloodborne – one word in general text (bloodborne virus). Two words in committee names
because they are wedded to this. Acronym still BBV for bloodborne virus, for consistency
with past use.
breastmilk
breastmilk bank
Budget – capital B in running text (‘the Budget’)
bulk billing
bulk billing incentive, bulk billing GP
C
check-up
Under Care
chronic condition – not chronic disease
clinical quality registries (but National Clinical Quality Registries Program)
Under
1982
Closing the Gap PBS co-payment
Aged
co-design
Released
Act And
communique – no accent on the e; if possible use ‘Meeting summary’ or ‘Meeting minutes’
instead
Been
concession cardholders
Health And Aged Care
Health
co-payment
Has Information Act 1982
Of
coronavirus – no capital unless starting a sentence
Information
cost of living (noun) – ‘ease the cost of living for Australians’
Of
cost-of-living (adjective) – ‘We want to ease the cost-of-living pressures on Australians.’
COVID-19 – not Covid or covid or any other shortened version
This Document Has Been Released
Document
COVIDSafe – adjective describing behaviours to reduce the spread of COVID-19
The Freedom Of
By The Department Of
Freedom
Department
cross-border health issues
This
cutting edge (noun) – ‘This care is cutting edge.’
The The
cutting-edge (adjective) – ‘This is cutting-edge care.’
By
D
data – singular (data is), not plural (data are)
decision-making
E
Ebola – capitalise first letter (because it is named after the Ebola River; most diseases do not
take capitals – see Medical terms)
end-stage kidney disease
health.gov.au style guide
9
Page 9 of 13
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 3
e-cigarettes
F
fact sheet – not factsheet
fellowship – lower case in running text: ‘When you complete your GP training with the
ACRRM or RACGP, you’ll achieve your GP fellowship. As a fellow, you can work
unsupervised as a GP anywhere in Australia.’ Uppercase when referring to the full name:
Fellowship of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine
face-to-face consultations
fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)
First Nations – See the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health guide
G
Under
GP (no need to spell this out first time before using abbreviation)
Care
government – lower case when using as subsequent references to the Australian
Under
Government, and as an adjective (government spending, government programs)
1982 Aged
GP-led respiratory clinics (lower case)
Released
Act
H
And
health care – use 2 words when the term is being used a noun. For example, delivering
Been
better health care, improve rural health care, providing health care remotely, improving
Health And Aged Care
access to primary health care.
Has
Health
Information Act 1982
healthcare – use 1 word when it is being used as an adjective. For example, healthcare
Information
Of
providers, healthcare billing compliance, healthcare workers
Of
health insurer – not health fund
health professionals
• for a specific context, use the specific term – e.g. ‘ask
This Document Has Been Released the dentist who is doing your
Document
root canal if you can have pain reli
The Freedom Of ef’
Department
•
Freedom
for a generic context where providers can be
By The Department Of grouped, use one generic (ie if you
might con
This sult a specialist or a GP or a surgeon or a psychiatrist = ‘the doctor will bill
Medicare on your behalf’; OR if you spoke to a physiotherapist, nurse, or Aboriginal
The The
community health worker = ‘show the health professional your injury’)
By
• if the context covers both ‘doctor’ or ‘health professional’ use both – e.g. ‘when you
get to the community clinic tell the doctor or health professional you see about your
rash’.
Say you were writing a page about mental health medication. You could use the specific
terms GP and psychiatrist in the summary for accuracy – ‘your GP or psychiatrist can
prescribe you an antidepressant’ – but use the generic after that to keep the page simple
– ‘ask the doctor about possible side effects if you are worried’. This should help ensure
the page shows up in a search using any of the 3 terms.
healthdirect – healthdirect, all lower case, is the name of the service. So when describing the
healthdirect website, the healthdirect Symptom Checker or the healthdirect helpline, use
health.gov.au style guide
10
Page 10 of 13
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 3
lower case. If you are writing about Healthdirect Australia (the organisation that operates a
number of health services on behalf of Australian governments), that name should be
capitalised.
home page – always 2 words, never homepage
I
J
K
L
life-saving (but ‘life saving’ in Life Saving Drugs Program, Surf Life Saving Australia)
life-threatening
Under
log in and login – not sign in or log on. Use log in (verb) for buttons and links, and login
Care
(noun) for content such as ‘your login details’.
Under
long-stay older patients
1982 Aged
long-acting reversible contraception (LARC)
Released
Act
low-intensity digital service
And
LGBTQIA+
Been
M
Health And Aged Care
Health
Minister for Health and Aged Care – not Health and Aged Care Minister
Has Information Act 1982
Information
Of
Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS)
Medicare Urgent Care Clinics (then abb
Of reviate to Medicare UCCs)
Medicare-eligible MRIs
Medicare-funded healthcare providers
This Document Has Been Released
The Freedom Of
Document
Monthly Care Statements
By The Department Of
Freedom
Department
MyMedicare
This
My Health Record
The The
My Health Record data
By
N
national one-stop shop
national strategies for bloodborne viruses and sexually transmissible infections
nationwide
non-life-threatening, for example ‘non-life-threatening care’
nurse practitioners (NPs), but try to avoid abbreviations
health.gov.au style guide
11
Page 11 of 13
FOI 25-0205 LD - Document 3
O
out of pocket (noun) – ‘You won’t be out of pocket’
out-of-pocket (adjective) – ‘fewer out-of-pocket costs’
P
Privacy notice – use this term, not collection notice or collection statement, for privacy
notices used with webforms.
Q
R
recordkeeping – not record keeping or record-keeping (as per the National Archives of
Australia’s website)
Under
rollout – not roll out or roll-out
Care
Rural Workforce Agencies
Under
1982
S
Aged
Smartraveller – when referring to the website, one word and upper case ‘S’
Released
Act And
smoke-free – hyphenated, not smokefree or smoke free
socio-economic
Been
Star Ratings (in aged care)
Health And Aged Care
Has
Health
Information Act 1982
T
Information
Of
team-based primary care
Of
telehealth
time frame – 2 words (Macq)
This Document Has Been Released
Document
U
The Freedom Of
By The Department Of
Freedom
Department
under serviced (noun) – ‘areas that are under serviced’
This
under-serviced (adjective) – ‘under-serviced areas’
The The
underway
By
V
videoconference
W
webpage – 1 word (Macq)
website – 1 word (Macq); not site or web site
wellbeing – 1 word, no hyphen
world-class
health.gov.au style guide
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wraparound care
X
X-ray – upper case ‘X’
Y
Z
Under Care
Under
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been Health And Aged Care
Has
Health
Information Act 1982
Information
Of
Of
This Document Has Been Released
The Freedom Of
Document
By The Department Of
Department
This Freedom
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health.gov.au style guide
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Editorial style guide for content on Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander health
June 2024
This style guide is specific to the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.
Web content on health.gov.au uses plain English and usual y follows the style choices of the
Australian Government Style Manual. The Style Manual has a specific section on Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples.
When creating this guidance we reviewed several guides and then consulted with the
department’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Staff Network.
The final guidance
differs in places from other style guides, but is approved usage for the department.
In all content, aim to use strengths-based language rather than focusing on ‘probl
Under ems’. Care
Referring to people
Under
1982
Use
Aged
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – Use this as first choice in most cases. Refers to
Released
Act
a collective of individual people from dif erent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nations across
And
Australia.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples – Refers to the collective of Aboriginal and
Been
Torres Strait Islander Nations across Australia.
Health And Aged Care
Health
First Nations people – While ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’ is first choice, ‘First Nations’
is interchangeable and can be used when s
Has pace is limited (for examp
Information Act 1982 le, in website navigation
Of
menus). Take care with substituting ‘First Nations’ if could lea
Information d to confusion (because First
Nations can be used to describe Indigenous peoples from across the world). For example, if a
Of
health service is only available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (such as the MBS
item 715 – Health Assessment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People), changing this to
‘First Nations’ could imply that it is available to other First Nations peoples (such as Māori
people).
This Document Has Been Released
Document
First Nations Peoples The Freedom Of
Freedom
Department
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people – U
By The Department Of se in contexts where it is important to
acknowledge peop
This le who identify with both unique cultures.
The
non-Indigenous Aus
The
tralians
Avoid
By
Indigenous people (see notes on use of ‘Indigenous’)
Indigenous Australians
First Australians
First Nations Australians
Do not use
Aborigine, Aborigines
Islander, Islanders
June 2024
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acronyms like ‘ATSI’ or ‘TSI’
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent
our – in the context of sentences such as ‘our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff’.
This can make staff feel as if they are ‘owned’ by the department.
Terms and phrases
Non-Indigenous people should not use these words without permission
mob
blackfulla/s
yarn
Under Care
walkabout
Under
These words have been used throughout history to demean and describe Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people in a derogatory way. While Aboriginal and T
1982 orres Strait Islander
Aged
people are reclaiming these words for their own use, non-Indigenous people should not use
them without permission.
Released
Act And
Acknowledgement of Country
See the intranet page Acknowledging and celebrating First Nations people for up-to-date
Been
guidance. As of June 2024, the approved Acknowledgement of Country for departmental
websites is:
Health And Aged Care
Health
The Department of Health and Aged Care acknowledges the T
Has Information Act 1982 raditional Owners and
Custodians of Country throughout Australia, and
Of thei
Information r continuing connection to land,
sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to Elders
both past and present.
Of
First Nations
Note that not all Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people agree with this terminology.
This Document Has Been Released
More widespread use in governm
Document ent was introduced in 2022 by the Minister for Indigenous
The Freedom Of
Australians, but without consultation.
By The Department Of
Freedom
Department
Indigenous
This The
Avoid using ‘Indigenou
The s’ to describe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people.
You cannot avoid it if it forms part of a program name, such as Indigenous Australians’ Health
By
Programme.
You can use Indigenous to refer to organisations (for example, the Indigenous health sector).
Can be used in:
• Indigenous beliefs and knowledge
• Indigenous data sovereignty
• Indigenous wellbeing methods and practices
• Indigenous languages.
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Released
Act And
Been
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Health
Information
Of
Of
Document
Department
This Freedom
The The
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this
website/document/video contains
images, voices and names of
a person/people who
has/have died.
Sensitive content
If your content could cause distress, consider including a content warning. Adjust the wording
to suit the content. An example is:
Content warning: This piece discusses sensitive topics around trauma and racism.
Consent
If you are using an image or recording, ensure that consent to use it has been obtained
(including for promotional material/social media channels).
Under
Care
Under
1982 Aged
Released
Act And
Been Health And Aged Care
Has
Health
Information Act 1982
Information
Of
Of
This Document Has Been Released
The Freedom Of
Document
By The Department Of
Department
This Freedom
The The
By
June 2024
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