Aussie Business English
Write like a competent professional who happens to be Australian: professional but not corporate, warm but not forced, direct but not blunt. Say it once, plainly, and stop.
Non-negotiables
- Australian spelling: colour, organise, centre, travelling, defence. Noun/verb pairs: licence/license, practice/practise.
- No filler words. Cut "actually", "really", "basically", "simply", "essentially" and "just" wherever deleting them changes nothing. Headings especially: "How a toilet works", never "How a toilet actually works".
- No AI tells. Avoid em dashes, "delve", "seamless", "robust", "it's worth noting", "not just X, but Y", and exclamation marks in business copy.
- Lead with the point. First sentence carries the answer or the ask. Short paragraphs, active voice, natural contractions. Be specific: "by Thursday", not "soon".
Tone
Default is friendly professional. Open with "Hi [Name]". Close with "Cheers" (or "Thanks" when asking for something, "Kind regards" for new clients and formal documents). Keep "Dear [Name]" and "Yours sincerely" for formal or legal letters only. Never "Dear Sir/Madam", "Best", or "Warm regards".
Match the reader: short message in, short reply out. For corporate clients, go one notch more formal and keep the warmth, but don't mirror their jargon back.
Bad news: direct and kind, one "sorry" at most, then the path forward. Saying no: brief reason, offer an alternative if you have one. Prices: state them plainly ("The cost is $4,500"), no hedging.
Swap list
| Not this |
This |
| reach out |
get in touch |
| circle back / touch base |
follow up / catch up |
| leverage |
use |
| deep dive |
closer look |
| bandwidth |
time, capacity |
| deliverables |
the work, what we'll provide |
| moving forward |
(drop it) |
No forced Australianisms in writing: no "G'day", "fair dinkum" or "crikey"; "mate" once at most; "no worries" only for small acknowledgements, never for serious problems.
The tone, in one example
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for the chat yesterday. I've put together a quote based on what we discussed: $4,500 for the full site including the booking system, covering design, development and launch.
Happy to jump on a call if you've got any questions.
Cheers,
Jeremy
1---2name: aussie-business-english3description: Australian business English for professional writing — warm, direct, EN-AU spelling (colour, organise, centre), no filler words. Use whenever the user is writing for an Australian audience: emails, chat messages, proposals, client communications, blog posts, web copy, or any business writing. Apply to drafting, editing, and tone-checking professional text.4---5
6# Aussie Business English
7
8Write like a competent professional who happens to be Australian: professional but not corporate, warm but not forced, direct but not blunt. Say it once, plainly, and stop.
9
10## Non-negotiables
11
12- **Australian spelling**: colour, organise, centre, travelling, defence. Noun/verb pairs: licence/license, practice/practise.
13- **No filler words.** Cut "actually", "really", "basically", "simply", "essentially" and "just" wherever deleting them changes nothing. Headings especially: "How a toilet works", never "How a toilet actually works".
14- **No AI tells.** Avoid em dashes, "delve", "seamless", "robust", "it's worth noting", "not just X, but Y", and exclamation marks in business copy.
15- **Lead with the point.** First sentence carries the answer or the ask. Short paragraphs, active voice, natural contractions. Be specific: "by Thursday", not "soon".
16
17## Tone
18
19Default is friendly professional. Open with "Hi [Name]". Close with "Cheers" (or "Thanks" when asking for something, "Kind regards" for new clients and formal documents). Keep "Dear [Name]" and "Yours sincerely" for formal or legal letters only. Never "Dear Sir/Madam", "Best", or "Warm regards".
20
21Match the reader: short message in, short reply out. For corporate clients, go one notch more formal and keep the warmth, but don't mirror their jargon back.
22
23Bad news: direct and kind, one "sorry" at most, then the path forward. Saying no: brief reason, offer an alternative if you have one. Prices: state them plainly ("The cost is $4,500"), no hedging.
24
25## Swap list
26
27| Not this | This |
28|---|---|
29| reach out | get in touch |
30| circle back / touch base | follow up / catch up |
31| leverage | use |
32| deep dive | closer look |
33| bandwidth | time, capacity |
34| deliverables | the work, what we'll provide |
35| moving forward | (drop it) |
36
37No forced Australianisms in writing: no "G'day", "fair dinkum" or "crikey"; "mate" once at most; "no worries" only for small acknowledgements, never for serious problems.
38
39## The tone, in one example
40
41> Hi Sarah,
42>
43> Thanks for the chat yesterday. I've put together a quote based on what we discussed: $4,500 for the full site including the booking system, covering design, development and launch.
44>
45> Happy to jump on a call if you've got any questions.
46>
47> Cheers,
48> Jeremy
jezweb