Notarising Documents Online in Australia

Notarising documents online in Australia is possible only in part. Depending on the notary's state and the document, a signature or oath may be witnessed by video, but a certified copy still needs the original in the notary's hands, and DFAT does not take online lodgements. The authority receiving the document decides whether a remote act is acceptable.

Key takeaways

• There is no national rule making online notarisation valid "across Australia". It depends on the notary's state or territory, the type of document and the receiving authority.
• Many people searching for an online notary do not need a notary. A Commonwealth statutory declaration can be made through myGov or witnessed by video, and Home Affairs usually accepts copies certified by an authorised person.
• A copy cannot be certified from a scan or a webcam. The original has to reach the notary.
• DFAT takes apostille requests by post or at a Passport Office by appointment, not online.
• "Remote online notarisation" (RON) is an American system. A US RON certificate is not an Australian notarial act.

What people searching for an online notary usually need

Most searches for an online notary in Australia come from one of three jobs, and the answer is different for each.

1. Signing something: an affidavit, a declaration, a power of attorney, a consent letter. The question is whether a witness can watch you sign by video.
2. Copying something: a passport, a degree, a birth certificate. The question is whether someone can certify a copy without holding the original.
3. Sending something overseas: the question is whether the whole chain, notary then DFAT then sometimes an embassy, can be done without leaving home.

There is also a fourth question hiding behind all three: who is going to read the document? A document for an Australian body often needs no notary at all. A document for a foreign ministry, court, bank or registry may need a notary, and that foreign body decides whether it accepts an act done by video. Everything below follows from those two questions.

First check: do you need a notary at all?

Before looking for an online notary, check who the document is for. Honest answers here often save the whole exercise.

• A Commonwealth statutory declaration. The Attorney-General's Department lists three equally valid ways to make one: in person with an approved witness, with an approved witness watching by video link, or digitally through myGov using your Digital Identity, with no witness. The myGov route is in English only. None of these involves a notary. See online statutory declarations.
• Documents for the Department of Home Affairs. A copy certified by an authorised person is usually enough, and many online visa applications ask for clear scans of the originals. Check the document checklist for your visa rather than paying for a notary by default.
• State documents. Several states and territories allow some witnessing by video for their own affidavits and declarations, often by a Justice of the Peace. The rules differ by state and by document, and have changed since 2020, so check the current state guidance.

A Justice of the Peace is a free witness for documents used in Australia. A JP's certification is not accepted overseas and cannot be apostilled, so once a document is leaving the country, the question changes. See notary or JP.

Task by task: what can be done without attending

Task	From home?	How it usually works
Commonwealth statutory declaration	Yes	myGov digital declaration, or an approved witness by video. No notary.
Witnessing a signature for overseas use	Sometimes	A notary by video, where their state allows it and the receiving authority accepts it. Often a wet-ink original is posted afterwards.
Administering an oath or affirmation	Sometimes	Same conditions. Some courts and registries insist on attendance.
Certifying a copy of an original	No	The notary must sight the original. It can be posted or couriered, but a scan is not the original.
Apostille or authentication	By post	DFAT accepts requests by registered post or at a Passport Office by appointment. Not online.
Certified translation	Usually	Translators often work from a scan. Ask the receiving authority whether it wants the translation attached to a notarised or legalised original.

The table shows why "notarise documents online from anywhere" is the wrong promise. Only the first row is fully online. The rest are, at best, arranged online and completed with a courier, a post box, or a short visit.

Is online notarisation legally accepted?

The honest answer is: sometimes, by some people, for some documents. Three separate questions decide it.

May the notary act by video? That depends on the law of the state or territory where the notary practises. Several jurisdictions legislated for remote witnessing during the pandemic and some kept it, but the detail differs by jurisdiction and by kind of document, and it keeps changing. A notary should be able to tell you what they may do by video and under which rules. Our remote notary article covers that legal side.

Does the document have its own witnessing rules? Wills, enduring powers of attorney and property transfers often do, separate from the general remote-witnessing rules. A document can fall outside what video allows even where video is allowed in general. For those, ask a solicitor about validity before you sign anything.

Will the receiving authority accept it? This is the question that matters most, and Australian law does not answer it. A foreign ministry, court, bank or land registry can refuse a perfectly valid Australian act because it wants a wet-ink signature and an embossed seal. DFAT itself says it cannot tell you whether a document must be legalised; you must ask the overseas authority that requested it.

Any page that says online notarisation is "legally recognised across Australia" has skipped two of those three questions.

What a notarisation arranged online usually looks like

For a document going overseas, the realistic version of "online" is a hybrid: arranged by email, perhaps witnessed by video, completed on paper. A typical sequence:

1. Ask the receiving authority, in writing, whether it accepts a notarial act done by video, and whether it wants wet ink, a physical seal, an apostille or embassy legalisation.
2. Send the notary a scan of the document and those instructions, and ask what they can do remotely for this document and under which state's rules.
3. Attend the appointment, by video or in person, with photo ID and the document unsigned.
4. Post or courier the original where the notary needs to sight it, or where a wet-ink signature is required.
5. Lodge with DFAT by registered post or at a Passport Office by appointment, if an apostille or authentication is needed.
6. Arrange translation and any embassy step in the order the receiving authority asked for.

A remote appointment removes travel, not steps. The saving is real for people in regional areas, people with limited mobility, and Australians overseas who need an Australian notary. It is smaller than it looks for someone who lives near a notary's office. Our document notarisation page describes what the notary does at each point.

Documents that usually need attendance

• Certified copies of passports, degrees and certificates, because the original must be sighted. See online certified copies.
• Powers of attorney over property, where the notary's capacity and duress checks matter most and the receiving registry often wants wet ink. See signing a power of attorney online.
• Wills, deeds and property transfers, which have their own witnessing rules. See a solicitor about validity.
• Company documents for a foreign registry that asks for an original signature and seal.
• University records, where DFAT legalises an original only after the university verifies it, and a notarised copy must state the original was verified with the institution.

American "online notary" platforms

Many results for an online notary are American remote online notarisation platforms. In the United States, many states commission notaries to notarise electronically over video under laws written for that purpose. The result is a US notarial act. It is not an Australian notarial act, and DFAT authenticates Australian notaries' signatures and seals, not a US commissioned notary's. If a foreign body asked for a document "notarised in Australia", a US RON certificate is unlikely to satisfy it. An Australian notary is also a different office: usually an experienced lawyer, appointed in most states by the Supreme Court and in Queensland through the Court of Faculties. See Australian and US notaries compared.

Questions to ask before you book a remote appointment

• Which acts will you perform by video for this document, and under which state's rules?
• Do you need the original posted to you, and when?
• Will the certificate be on paper with a physical seal, or digital?
• Will DFAT be able to authenticate the form of notarisation you are proposing?
• What happens if you are not satisfied about my identity or free consent during the call?

Be wary of any provider that promises the result will be "accepted everywhere" or completed instantly. No notary controls what a foreign authority accepts, and no honest one will promise it. A notary who says "I would not do this one remotely" is giving you useful information.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A woman in regional Victoria needs a signed affidavit and a certified copy of her degree for a job overseas. She first finds an American online notary platform, then checks with the employer, which wants an Australian notarisation with an apostille. She emails a scan to an Australian notary, who says the affidavit could be sworn by video but the degree copy needs the original and the university's verification. She drives in once, does both at one appointment, and the notary's certificates go to DFAT by post. The search for "online" saved her nothing; the question to the employer saved her paying twice.

In short

Online notarisation in Australia is partial. Some signatures and oaths can be witnessed by video, where the notary's state allows it and the receiving authority accepts it. Certified copies need the original, and DFAT works by post or appointment. Many Australian documents need no notary at all. Ask the receiver first, then decide whether a video appointment saves you anything. If the destination needs an apostille, check its Hague status on the HCCH status table on the day.

People also search for

• What does an online notary in Australia actually do?
• Can a notary witness a document by video?
• Can you get an apostille online in Australia?
• Can a certified translation be done online?
• How do Australians overseas use an Australian notary?

Send us the document and who will receive it, and we will explain each step before you book.