Numbers

Commas in numbers
Phone numbers
Spelling numbers
Dates
Time
Percentages
Units
Currency

 

Commas in numbers

Numbers up to 9999 are expressed with no space or comma. Numbers 10,000 and above are expressed with commas (e.g. 24,000 and 1,300,000).

Phone numbers

Phone numbers should be written in the following formats:

(03) 8591 2200

0400 123 456

Spelling numbers

In general, spell out numbers up to nine and use numerals for numbers 10 and above. Exceptions to this rule are as follows:

• references to headings or expressions from elsewhere that use numerals (e.g. Year 12, Semester 1, Chapter 5, Appendix 2)
• text that is largely statistical or mathematical in nature (e.g. text in a table – use numerals)
• numbers accompanied by symbols or measurements (e.g. 8°C, 3km, 10am, 89%)
• centuries (e.g. the 21^st century)
• decimals (e.g. 3.5)
• the beginning of sentences, where numbers should always be expressed in words (e.g. Sixty-five students were involved in the concert).

See BGS conventions for more on School-specific numerical style.

Dates

Dates are written with no punctuation (e.g. Friday 18 February 2019).

For date spans, use ‘from’ and ‘to’, or ‘between’ and ‘and’ (e.g. between 2016 and 2018). You can also use an unspaced en-dash (e.g. 18–20 February 2019) in a table or for brevity. Be consistent. 

Time

A full point, rather than a colon, is used to separate hours from minutes. No space is used between the numeral and am or pm (e.g. 6.00–8.00pm, 6.30pm).

Where both times are am or pm, only use the abbreviation once (e.g. 7.30–9.30am).

Where possible, give event details in the following format:

What: Family Fun Night (use event title, unless used as a heading)

When: Friday 1 March 2019, 4.30–8.00pm (Note: Date is listed first, followed by time)

Where: Red Square, Junior School

Percentages

In text, percentages are expressed with the words ‘per cent’ for numbers less than 10 and with the symbol ‘%’ for numbers 10 and greater (e.g. five per cent, 25%). However, in text that contains many statistics, numbers and the symbol can be used throughout.

The symbol should be used only with numerals; ‘per cent’ may be used with either words or numerals. In documents where numerals are generally being used for numbers, show percentages in numerals with the symbol.

For headings, the symbol is acceptable (e.g. BGS is ranked in the top 5% in Australia).

Units

No space is used between units and their associated numerical (e.g. 25mm, 14km, 4m).

Currency

Use A$ for Australian dollars (e.g. A$250).

If using the symbol ‘m’ for million or ‘bn’ for billion, do not use a space between the units and the symbol (e.g. $25m, $5bn).