How to Notarise an Apprenticeship Certificate in Australia

To notarise an apprenticeship certificate, take the original testamur, and usually your record of results, to an Australian notary public, who certifies copies after comparing them with the originals. For use overseas, DFAT then adds an apostille or authentication. If the documents are staying in Australia, a certified copy from an authorised person is usually enough.

Key takeaways

• An apprenticeship produces several documents. Overseas assessors usually want the testamur and the record of results together, and a statement of attainment is not a full qualification.
• A notary certifies that a copy matches the original. It does not certify that you are competent in the trade or that your hours were served.
• Employment evidence is usually the harder half: references, payslips and declarations of work history, which a notary can also handle.
• DFAT accepts public TAFE originals or notarised copies, but not JP copies. Private RTO documents are notarised first.
• A JP copy is fine for many Australian purposes. It is not accepted overseas and cannot be apostilled.

Why do tradespeople get these documents notarised?

Almost always for one of three reasons: a skilled migration or trade recognition application in another country, a licence or registration application with a foreign regulator, or an employer overseas who wants proof of the trade before issuing a contract. In each case the reader is outside Australia and cannot check the original, so they rely on an Australian notary having seen it.

The notarial work itself is straightforward. What catches people out is bringing the wrong piece of paper, because an Australian apprenticeship generates four or five different documents, and the overseas assessor usually wants a specific combination of them.

Which document do you actually hold?

Sort your paperwork before you book anything:

• The testamur is the qualification certificate issued by the registered training organisation (RTO) or TAFE, naming the qualification. This is the document most overseas bodies mean when they say "trade certificate".
• The record of results, sometimes called an academic transcript, lists the units of competency completed. Assessors usually want it alongside the testamur, because the unit list is what they map against their own trade standards.
• A statement of attainment is issued when you completed some units but not a full qualification. It is not accepted where a full qualification is required.
• The training contract or completion record shows the employer, the term served and the nominal duration.
• A trade licence or registration, issued by a state or territory regulator, is a permission to work rather than evidence of training.

These come from different bodies and, if lost, are replaced by different bodies. The RTO or TAFE replaces the testamur and results. The state or territory training authority usually holds apprenticeship contract records. The licensing regulator replaces the licence. If your training organisation has closed, its records will usually have passed to a regulator or a nominated custodian that can reissue; ask the training authority in your state or territory where they went. Work out what is missing before you start making calls, because replacements take time you cannot control.

What can the notary certify, and what not?

An Australian notary public sights your original and certifies that the attached copy is a complete and accurate copy of it. That is the core service. The notary checks your identity, compares each page, and attaches a signed and sealed notarial certificate, recorded in their permanent register.

The notary cannot certify that you are competent in the trade, that the qualification is current, that the RTO is still registered, or that your hours were genuinely served. Assessors verify those with the issuing body and with national training records. A notarised copy gets your evidence accepted as a document; it does not shortcut the assessment or change its outcome.

A notary can also witness your signature on an assessment application or on a declaration of employment history, and administer an oath or affirmation if a statutory declaration or affidavit about your work experience is required. That last one is common. Overseas regulators frequently want employment periods declared formally rather than just listed in a CV. Whether a Commonwealth or state declaration form suits a foreign regulator is its call; some want an affidavit or their own form instead. See statutory declarations and notaries.

Is employment evidence the harder half?

For most trade recognition applications abroad, yes. The certificate is the easy part. The assessor also wants proof of experience, and that evidence is assembled rather than issued.

• Employer reference letters on letterhead, stating dates, position and duties in detail;
• payslips or income statements covering the claimed periods;
• superannuation statements, which are useful precisely because they are hard to fabricate;
• a statutory declaration or affidavit from you or a former supervisor where a business has closed.

Bring them to the same appointment as the certificate rather than in instalments. A second appointment means a second round of identity checks and certificates.

One caution on reference letters: certifying a copy attests to the copy, not to the truth of the letter or the authenticity of the letterhead. If an assessor wants the referee's own signature witnessed, the referee must attend a notary in person, which is a different act and one to organise in advance. Our page on notarising a reference letter covers the choices.

What happens at the appointment

1. Identification. A current passport is safest, because the name on it needs to match the name on the qualification.
2. Originals sighted. The notary compares each original with its copy, page by page. A scan or a photocopy of a copy will not do.
3. Certificates attached. Notarial certificates are prepared, signed, sealed and bound to the copies so they cannot be separated without leaving a trace.
4. Register entry. Each act is entered in the notary's register, which allows it to be verified later.

Ask how many sets you need before you go. A migration agent, a licensing board and an employer may each want their own, and copies made at the same sitting avoid a return visit.

If your name has changed since the certificate was issued, through marriage, deed poll or a different transliteration, deal with it at the same appointment. A certified copy of the marriage certificate or change of name certificate, or a declaration linking the names, prevents a rejection that would otherwise arrive much later. See name changes and notaries.

Where is the document going, and who issued it?

If the documents are staying in Australia, for example for an Australian licensing body or the Department of Home Affairs, a copy certified by an authorised person is usually all that is asked for. A Justice of the Peace does this free. Check the receiving authority's instructions before paying a notary.

If they are going overseas, the notarial certificate is an Australian act, so a foreign regulator usually needs the notary's signature and seal confirmed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). If the destination is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, DFAT issues an apostille and no further Australian step is needed. If it is not a member, DFAT issues an authentication certificate and the destination's embassy or consulate in Australia then legalises it. Check membership on the HCCH status table on the day; several countries that recruit Australian tradespeople are not members. A notary cannot issue an apostille. Only DFAT can.

Who issued the document also changes the route. DFAT's list of documents it can legalise says it accepts originals from public TAFEs, or copies notarised by an Australian notary, but not copies certified by a JP or other authorised witness. Documents from private colleges and RTOs must be notarised first; in some states and territories the education department can verify and seal them instead.

Document	For an Australian body	For an overseas body
Public TAFE testamur or results	Certified copy by an authorised person, usually	Original or notarised copy, then DFAT
Private RTO testamur or results	Certified copy by an authorised person, usually	Notarised copy, then DFAT
Reference letters and payslips	Certified copies, if asked	Notarised copies, then DFAT if required
Declaration of work history	Statutory declaration before an authorised witness	Sworn before a notary, then DFAT if required

Translation, cost and timing

If the destination does not work in English, the assessor will usually want a translation, often by a NAATI-certified translator if it is done in Australia, but the receiving body decides whose translation it accepts. Trade qualification titles translate badly, and a translator who keeps the Australian qualification name intact and adds a note is doing it properly. See NAATI translation with a notary.

We do not quote fees or processing times. Notarial fees are not fixed by statute and vary between practitioners, and DFAT, embassies and training organisations each set their own timing. Because trade applications involve a bundle rather than a single document, ask for a quote on the whole set, and if you have a start date or lodgement deadline, begin with the receiving body's document list and work backwards from it. For the notarial service itself, see document notarisation.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

An electrician in Brisbane is applying for trade recognition overseas. The assessor's checklist asks for the qualification, the unit list and five years of employment evidence. He finds his testamur but has lost the record of results, so he orders a replacement from the TAFE first. One of his former employers has closed, so he prepares a declaration of that period, supported by superannuation statements. At a single appointment the notary certifies copies of everything, and he swears the declaration. DFAT then apostilles the notarised copies the assessor asked to have apostilled.

In short

Work out which apprenticeship documents the assessor wants, usually the testamur and the record of results, and gather your employment evidence at the same time. A notary certifies copies against the originals, witnesses signatures and administers oaths; it does not vouch for your trade skills. For overseas use, DFAT adds an apostille or authentication, and private RTO documents must be notarised first. For Australian use, a certified copy from an authorised person is usually enough.

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Preparing a trade assessment overseas? Send us the assessor's checklist, and we will explain each step before you book.