Apostille Services in Australia: How They Work

In Australia, only the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) issues apostilles. You lodge the document by registered post or at an Australian Passport Office by appointment, and DFAT checks the signature or seal against its records and places the certificate on the document. Private documents must be notarised first; many public originals go straight to DFAT.

Key takeaways

• DFAT is the only issuer. Notaries, lawyers and "apostille service" companies can prepare and lodge documents, but only DFAT issues the certificate.
• DFAT legalises only Australian public documents: originals from Australian government bodies and officials, originals from Australian tertiary institutions, and copies notarised by Australian notaries.
• An apostille confirms the signature and seal on the document, never its contents.
• Apostilles are for countries party to the Hague Apostille Convention. Others need DFAT authentication, then embassy legalisation.
• DFAT cannot tell you whether you need one. Ask the overseas authority that asked for the document.

What an apostille is

An apostille is a standard certificate, created by the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, that confirms the origin of a public document: that the signature on it is genuine, the capacity in which the person signed, and the identity of any seal or stamp. Countries that are parties to the Convention accept an apostille from another party in place of the longer chain of embassy legalisation.

Australia is a party. According to the HCCH status table, as of our last check, the Convention entered into force for Australia on 16 March 1995. Other countries join over time, so check the table on the day for the country your document is going to.

What an apostille does not do is just as important. It does not certify that the document's contents are true, that it is valid under the destination's law, or that the receiving body will accept it. It only confirms that the signature or seal is genuine.

Apostille or authentication?

DFAT issues one of two certificates, depending on where the document is going:

• An apostille, if the destination is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention. Nothing more is usually needed from Australia.
• An authentication certificate, if the destination is not a party. The document then goes to that country's embassy or consulate in Australia for legalisation, and sometimes to its foreign ministry after arrival.

Getting the wrong one is a common and avoidable mistake, and it usually means lodging again. Tell DFAT the destination country on the request form. See the wrong certificate type and the Hague Apostille Convention explained.

Which documents DFAT can apostille

DFAT's page on documents it can legalise says it can only legalise Australian public documents, in three groups:

Group	Examples	Notary first?
Originals issued by Australian government agencies or officials	Birth, marriage and death certificates; court documents including divorce certificates; national police checks; citizenship certificates; ASIC, ATO and TGA documents	Usually not
Originals issued by Australian tertiary institutions	Degrees and transcripts, once the university has verified them	Usually not, but verification is needed
Copies notarised by an Australian notary	Copies of any of the above; private documents such as powers of attorney, wills, bank statements and company documents	Yes

A few rules catch people out:

• Private documents, such as a power of attorney, a declaration or a bank statement, are accepted only once notarised by an Australian notary.
• Justice of the Peace certifications are not accepted. A JP is for documents used in Australia.
• Laminated, framed or altered public documents are refused. Commemorative birth certificates are on DFAT's list; ceremonial and commemorative marriage certificates are not.
• Foreign documents, including foreign education documents, are never legalised in Australia, even if an Australian notary has copied them.
• Scans are never electronic documents for DFAT's purposes. It accepts only a limited range of official electronic documents, assessed on lodgement.

For a fuller list, see which documents can be apostilled.

How to get an apostille from DFAT

DFAT's process, as described on its notarial services page when we checked, runs in five steps:

1. Prepare the documents. Ask the overseas authority what it needs legalised, confirm the document is eligible, and work out whether you need an apostille or an authentication. If it is not an original Australian public document, take it to an Australian notary first.
2. Complete DFAT's document legalisation request form. DFAT does not accept incomplete requests, so fill it in carefully and list the destination country.
3. Submit the documents, either in person at an Australian Passport Office by an appointment made online, where someone else can attend for you, or by registered post with the form, card payment authorisation and a self-addressed registered return envelope. Keep both tracking numbers.
4. DFAT processes the request. Officers check the signature and seal against DFAT's records, and may contact the issuing authority, which can cause a delay.
5. The documents come back with the apostille or authentication placed directly on them, for collection or in your return envelope.

DFAT charges a fee per certificate, and says it rises with the consumer price index each 1 January; check the current figure on Smartraveller. It also warns that demand rises at the end of the school year and in peak holiday periods, so allow for that if you have a deadline. DFAT does not offer online lodgement, but it does run an online portal where a receiving authority can verify an Australian-issued apostille.

What "apostille services" companies do

Many businesses advertise apostille services in Australia. Some are notaries; some are agents who lodge documents with DFAT on your behalf. They can be useful: a notary who prepares the documents and lodges them saves you a trip, and an agent who knows DFAT's form reduces the chance of an incomplete request.

But none of them issues the apostille, and none can make DFAT process faster than it does. DFAT's own fee is charged on top of whatever they charge. Before paying, ask:

• Is the service a notary, or only an agent? An agent cannot notarise a private document.
• Does the quote show DFAT's fee separately from the service fee?
• Will they check the destination and request the right certificate, apostille or authentication?
• For a non-Convention country, will they also handle the embassy legalisation, or is that separate?

Our apostille and authentication page explains where a notary fits. You can always lodge with DFAT yourself. For a public original such as a birth certificate, that is often all you need. See notary and apostille services.

Translations and apostilles

DFAT can legalise some translations. The translation must be by a NAATI-certified or recognised translator, with the translator's name and signature, NAATI seal including practitioner ID, and the date on every page, together with a copy of the original signed or sealed by the translator. Whether the destination wants the translation legalised in Australia, or the original apostilled and translated on arrival, is for the receiving authority to say, so ask before paying for either. See certified translation in Australia.

Why documents come back without an apostille

Most returned requests fail for reasons that can be checked before lodging:

• An incomplete form, or missing payment authorisation. DFAT returns incomplete postal requests with a letter rather than fixing them.
• The wrong document type: a JP-certified copy, a photocopy, a scan, or a foreign document.
• A university record that has not been verified, or a notarised copy of one whose certificate does not state that the original was verified with the institution.
• A damaged or altered original, such as a laminated certificate.
• A signature DFAT cannot match against its records, which may mean it has to contact the issuing authority first.

If a document is refused, the letter usually says why. Fix that one point, rather than starting again with a different service. See a document rejected by an embassy for problems that arise after DFAT.

If you are already overseas

DFAT also provides some notarial services through Australian embassies and consulates abroad, including legalisation of some Australian documents. The range of services and how to request them differ from those in Australia, so read DFAT's page on notarial services overseas before posting documents home. For Australian public documents, posting them to DFAT in Australia by registered post, or asking someone in Australia to attend a Passport Office for you, may still be the simpler route.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A teacher in Hobart is moving to a Hague Convention country and needs her birth certificate, police check and degree apostilled, plus a notarised statutory declaration about her employment history. She lodges the birth certificate and police check with DFAT herself by registered post. Her university verifies the degree, and DFAT apostilles the original. Only the declaration goes to a notary first. Had she used an agent for everything, she would have paid a service fee on three documents that needed none.

In short

Apostilles in Australia come only from DFAT, by registered post or at a Passport Office by appointment. DFAT legalises Australian public documents: government-issued originals, verified university records, and copies or private documents notarised by an Australian notary. An apostille confirms the signature and seal, not the contents, and suits Hague Convention countries; others need authentication and embassy legalisation. Ask the overseas authority what it needs, then decide whether a notary or an agent adds anything.

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