The general rule of not capitalising common nouns has 4 exceptions:

• some commons nouns associated with government
• common nouns in legal writing
• common nouns referring to Indigenous Australians
• common nouns referring to parts of a publication (eg chapters, tables, figures); see Refer readers to sections of the text.

Usage of capitals varies when displaying the titles of written and creative works; see Presenting titles.

Common nouns associated with government

Some common nouns associated with the Australian Government, and the state and territory governments are capitalised:

But when used as a defining adjective or in the plural, they are not capitalised:

In Australian documents, the Commonwealth can be used as a shorthand for the Commonwealth of Australia. It is usually only used in relation to law (eg Commonwealth legislation) and is not used as a name for the government (Australian Government, not Commonwealth Government).  

Common nouns in legal writing

Initial capitals are often used for common nouns in legal writing, especially for terms that have been legally defined:

For further details, see Legislation and Law.

Common nouns referring to Indigenous Australians

In Australia, common nouns and their associated adjectives used to describe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are capitalised:

See Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for further information on writing about Australian Indigenous peoples.