Numbers, dates and times

Numbers

Use numerals instead of words for numbers, except at the beginning of a sentence.

Use commas to separate thousands in numbers 1,000 and above.

For approximate numbers over 999,999, spell out millions or billions.

Use 'to' for a span of numbers.

For ordinal numbers spell out 'first' to 'ninth'. Higher ordinals use numerals.

Ages

Use numerals to write an age.

Use 'to' for a span of ages.

Use hyphens when the phrase describes the subject.

Measurements

Write the measurement as a number and abbreviate the unit of measurement. Don't put spaces between the number and the unit.

Spell out the unit of measurement when not using a number.

Money

Use decimal places only when cents are specified.

Spell out cents, millions and billions and leave a space after the numeral.

Use a comma in dollar amounts $10,000 and above.

Percentages

Use % symbol – 50%.

Phone numbers

Link where possible and use spaces to help people read phone numbers.

For the emergency number, use 'Triple Zero (000)'.

Group memorable numbers together – '131 500' (Transport).

Tell the user to 'call' rather than 'phone'.

Dates

Write dates in order of day, month and year.

Write day as numeral, month spelled out, year as a full numeral.

Use 'to' for a span of days, dates or months.

To show year spans, use a hyphen or en rule and write both years as a full numeral, or if the first two digits are the same (i.e. 2023 and 2024), then you can remove the first two digits of the year in the second instance within a hyphenated pair of year values.

Use a hyphen with the prefix 'mid'.

Where there are spacing issues, use the 3-letter month abbreviation.

Times

Use 12-hour clock format, immediately followed by am or pm.

Use a colon to separate hours and minutes.

If the time is a whole hour, don't include minutes.