E-Signing and Notarising Documents in Australia

E-signing and notarising are two different things in Australia. An e-signature is valid for most purposes under electronic transactions law, with no notary. A notary can only notarise a signature they watched being made, electronic or ink, and cannot vouch for one already applied in a signing app. The receiving authority decides whether it accepts an electronically notarised document.

Key takeaways

• Most documents that only need a signature can be e-signed, with no witness and no notary. The recipient's consent matters.
• A notary certifies what they saw. They cannot notarise an e-signature already applied in DocuSign or a similar app, because they did not watch it being made.
• A notary may witness an electronic signature made in front of them, in person or sometimes by video, where their state's rules allow it and the receiver accepts it.
• Documents that need a witness, such as deeds, wills and powers of attorney, have their own rules, which may exclude e-signing. See a solicitor.
• Many foreign registries still want a wet-ink signature and a physical seal. Ask before choosing electronic.

Can a notary notarise an electronic signature?

The short answer: a notary can notarise an electronic signature only if they watched you make it. That is the core of every notarial act. When a notary certifies a signature, they are stating that the person identified to them signed the document in their presence, freely and understanding what they signed. The medium, ink or electronic, does not change that requirement.

So there are really three different questions behind "can a notary notarize an electronic signature":

1. Can a notary watch me e-sign and certify it? Sometimes. Where the notary's state or territory rules allow electronic execution and electronic notarial certificates for that kind of document, a notary may watch you apply an electronic signature, in person or by video, and attach a digital or paper certificate. Whether the receiver accepts it is a separate question.
2. Can a notary notarise a document I already e-signed? No. The notary did not see the signature made, so they cannot certify it. The usual fix is to sign again, in front of the notary.
3. Can a notary certify a copy of an e-signed document? Only in a limited sense. A notary can certify that a printout is a true copy of what was shown to them, but that says nothing about who signed it. Some notaries will certify a printout of an electronic record they accessed directly at its source; ask whether yours will, and whether the receiver would accept it.

What Australian e-signature law covers

The Commonwealth Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (the ETA), and matching legislation in each state and territory, let an electronic signature satisfy a legal requirement for a signature in most situations. According to the Attorney-General's Department's guidance, the ETA does not require any particular method, provided the method:

• identifies the signer and indicates their intention to approve what they are signing;
• is as reliable as appropriate in the circumstances, or is proven in fact to have done that job.

On that guidance, an e-signature can be a signature drawn on a screen, a typed name in an email, an "I accept" box on a form, or a signature made on a digital signing platform. The department also makes two points that people often miss.

Consent. If you are signing a document for someone who is not a Commonwealth entity, such as a business or a private person, you may need their consent to use an electronic signature. Consent can sometimes be inferred from past dealings, but if in doubt, ask them.

"Digital signature" is not an ETA term. When someone asks for a digital signature, they may mean an ordinary e-signature or one with extra security features, such as a certificate-based signature. Ask what they mean before you pay for anything.

There are exemptions, and the ETA regime is about signing, not witnessing. Some documents, and some witnessing requirements, sit outside it or under separate state rules. That is where notaries come in.

Signing, witnessing and notarising are three different acts

Act	What it proves	Can it be electronic?
Signing	That you approve the document	Usually yes, under the ETA, with the recipient's consent
Witnessing	That someone saw you sign	Depends on the document and the state's witnessing rules
Notarising a signature	That a notary identified you and saw you sign, recorded in a certificate	Sometimes, if the notary's rules and the receiver allow it
Apostille or authentication	That the notary's signature and seal are genuine	DFAT issues it on the document; it does not accept scans

Most business contracts only need the first row, and an e-signed contract between Australian parties usually needs no notary at all. The later rows apply when a document needs a witness, or when it is going overseas and the recipient must be able to verify the signature through an official chain.

Documents with their own witnessing rules

Some documents need a witness, or a particular kind of witness, and their rules are set separately from the general e-signature law. They include deeds, wills, enduring powers of attorney, statutory declarations, affidavits, and land transfer documents. Several states and territories now allow some of these to be signed electronically or witnessed by video, and several have changed their rules since 2020. The detail differs by jurisdiction and by document.

• Commonwealth statutory declarations can be made with a witness in person, with a witness by video, or digitally through myGov. None needs a notary. See online statutory declarations.
• Wills, deeds and enduring powers have execution rules that decide whether they are valid. Do not assume an e-signature works. See a solicitor.
• Company documents signed by directors under the company's own rules may be e-signed for Australian purposes. A foreign registry receiving them may still want wet ink.

Documents going overseas

For a document going overseas, Australian e-signature law is only half the picture. The receiving country's law, and the receiving body's own practice, decide what it accepts. Many foreign land registries, courts and company registries still require a wet-ink signature made in the notary's presence and an embossed or inked notarial seal, and some will refuse a document whose certificate records electronic execution.

If an apostille or authentication is needed, only DFAT issues it in Australia, by checking the notary's signature and seal against its records and placing its certificate on the document. DFAT's published guidance accepts only a limited range of official Australian documents in electronic form, assessed on lodgement, and says scans are never electronic documents for its purposes. A notarised paper document is the form it routinely handles. Whether the destination needs an apostille or embassy legalisation depends on its Hague Convention status, which changes; check the HCCH status table on the day.

So before you choose electronic, ask the receiver three questions: will it accept an electronic signature, will it accept a notarial certificate recording electronic or video execution, and does it need an apostille? If any answer is no or unclear, sign in ink before a notary. Our document notarisation page covers that route, and apostille and authentication covers the DFAT step.

What about DocuSign "notary" and similar platforms?

Signing platforms are excellent for ordinary signatures, and a platform audit trail is useful evidence of who signed and when. But a signing platform is not a notary. Platform features called "notary" or "notarize" usually connect you with a US remote online notary, who produces a US notarial act under a US state's law. That is not an Australian notarial act, and DFAT authenticates Australian notaries' signatures and seals, not those of US commissioned notaries. If the receiver asked for an Australian notarisation, a platform's US notarisation will rarely satisfy it. See Australian and US notaries compared.

If you need a notary to witness an e-signature

1. Get the receiver's written confirmation that it accepts an electronically signed, electronically notarised document.
2. Ask the notary whether their rules allow it for this document, what platform and certificate they would use, and whether the certificate will be digital or paper.
3. Do not sign in advance. Leave the document unsigned so the notary can watch the signature being applied.
4. Have photo ID ready, and expect the notary to check identity, understanding and free consent as they would in person.
5. Confirm the DFAT step works with the form of certificate, if an apostille is needed, before the appointment.

A notary who says "for this one, sign in ink" is not being old-fashioned; they are protecting you from a rejection at the other end. Our remote notary article covers the video side.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A Sydney start-up signs a distribution agreement with a European partner on a signing platform. Months later, the partner's local registry wants the agreement filed with the director's signature notarised and apostilled. The director asks a notary to notarise the e-signed PDF. The notary explains that she cannot certify a signature she did not see. The registry confirms it wants wet ink, so the director signs a fresh counterpart in front of the notary, who attaches a paper certificate, and it goes to DFAT for an apostille. The e-signature was valid for the contract; it simply was not what the registry needed.

In short

An electronic signature is valid for most Australian purposes without a notary, subject to the recipient's consent and some exemptions. A notary can notarise an electronic signature only if they watched it being made, where their rules allow, and never one already applied in an app. For documents going overseas, the receiving authority decides, and wet ink with a physical seal remains the safest form.

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