Editing Macquarie Dictionary (section)

== Preferred spellings ==
The dictionary records standard Australian English spelling, which is closer to [[British English|British]] than [[American English|American]] spelling, with spellings like ''colour'', ''centre'', ''defence'' and ''practice/practise'' (noun/verb). It gives ''-ise'' spellings first, listing ''-ize'' spellings as acceptable variants, unlike the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' and some other dictionaries of British English, which continue to prefer ''-ize'' to ''-ise'' in spite of the opposite tendency among the British general public (see [[Oxford spelling]]). ''Labour'', however, is spelt ''Labor'' when referring to [[Australian Labor Party|the Australian political party]]. One difference from British spelling is the noun ''program'', which the ''Macquarie Dictionary'' gives as the preferred spelling in preference to ''programme''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/features/word/search/program/ |title=Macquarie Dictionary Search Word program |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2014 |website=www.macquariedictionary.com.au |publisher= Macmillan Publishers Group Australia |access-date=15 April 2015}}</ref>