Notary Public Rules by State in Australia and What Differs

For the notarial act itself, it rarely matters which Australian state or territory your notary is in. The core duties are the same everywhere, and DFAT checks every notary against the same specimen records. What differs is how notaries are appointed and supervised, and the state law governing some documents, such as enduring powers of attorney and land dealings.

Key takeaways

• A notary in Hobart and a notary in Brisbane do the same things: certify copies, witness signatures, administer oaths. Neither certifies that a document's contents are true.
• Every notary lodges a specimen signature and seal with DFAT. That is why an apostille carries the same weight whichever state the notary is in.
• Appointment, training, supervision and discipline are set locally. In most states the Supreme Court appoints; in Queensland it is the Court of Faculties in England.
• The state rule that catches people is usually the one attached to the document, such as an enduring power of attorney or a land transfer, not the notary.
• For documents going overseas, the receiving authority usually has the last word, whatever any Australian state allows.

Why people ask

Notaries in Australia are appointed state by state, so people reasonably wonder whether that matters. Can someone in Perth use a notary in Sydney? Does a notary in a smaller jurisdiction carry less weight overseas? Does a Victorian birth certificate need a Victorian notary? For the notarial act, the answer to each is usually no. The rules that trip people up are more often the ones attached to the document. This page separates the two.

What is the same wherever the notary practises

The core of the office does not change at a state border.

• A notary certifies copies, witnesses signatures and administers oaths and affirmations. A notary never certifies that a document's contents are true.
• A notary must sight the original document, not a scan, photocopy or earlier certified copy.
• A notary must be satisfied of your identity, that you understand what you are signing, and that you are signing freely, and may decline to act.
• Notaries keep a permanent register of their notarial acts.
• Notaries lodge a specimen of their signature and seal with DFAT, which uses it to issue an apostille or authentication.

That last point answers the "less weight overseas" worry. A foreign authority relies on DFAT's apostille or authentication, and DFAT checks the notary's signature against its specimen. It does not grade notaries by the size of their state. It also means where the underlying document came from rarely matters to the notary. Certifying a copy is a comparison between the original in front of the notary and the copy attached to the certificate, so a New South Wales certificate can be copied and certified by a notary in Western Australia. For the full list of what a notary does, see what a notary public does.

What does differ between jurisdictions

The differences are real, but they are mostly about regulation rather than the certificate in your hand.

Appointment and supervision. In most states and territories the Supreme Court appoints notaries under local rules. In Queensland, notaries are appointed through the Court of Faculties of the Archbishop of Canterbury in England. Eligibility, required study, continuing obligations and discipline are set locally, and have changed over time. If you want to confirm that someone is a notary, check with the body that appointed them or the local society of notaries. See how notaries are appointed in Australia.

Where a notary may act. An appointment is made for a jurisdiction. Whether, and how, a notary may perform acts while physically in another state depends on the terms of their appointment and local rules. It rarely affects clients who visit a notary's office. If you are asking a notary to travel interstate, ask them directly rather than assuming.

Remote and electronic execution. Several states changed their witnessing laws during the pandemic, some kept the changes, and the detail still differs and keeps moving. What a notary may do over video depends on the law where they practise, and, decisively for overseas documents, on what the receiving authority accepts. See online notarisation in Australia.

Fees. There is no national fee schedule. In some states notarial fees are not specifically regulated and each notary sets their own; practising lawyers remain bound by general rules that charges be fair and reasonable. See how notarial fees are set.

The witness lists around the notary. Statutory declarations, affidavits and domestic certified copies each have their own authorised-witness lists, Commonwealth and state. Notaries appear on them, but so do many other people, which is why a notary is so often unnecessary for paperwork staying in Australia. See who can witness a statutory declaration, and the Attorney-General's page on Commonwealth statutory declarations.

The state rule that matters more: the document's own law

Here is where people get caught. Some documents are creatures of one state's law, and that law sets how they must be signed and witnessed.

• Enduring powers of attorney and enduring guardianship appointments are made under state or territory law, each with its own form, its own witness requirements, and sometimes its own rules about who may witness and what they must certify on the form.
• Land dealings are governed by the land titles law of the state where the land is, with that state's own identity-verification and witnessing requirements, usually handled by a conveyancer or lawyer.
• Court documents follow the rules of the court where they will be filed.

For these, the question is not "which state is my notary in" but "which state's law governs this document, and does my witness satisfy it". Lawyers, and sometimes notaries, are often among the permitted witnesses, but confirm it against the governing state's requirements. Some instruments need two witnesses, or require the witness to certify particular matters, such as that the person appeared to understand the document. Where the document affects property, decision-making or someone's legal position, see a solicitor in the governing state before signing.

Whether a power of attorney made in one state will be recognised in another, or overseas, is a further question again. That is legal advice, not a notarial matter. See powers of attorney and notaries.

Three layers, three questions

Most confusion clears once you ask which layer your question is about.

Layer	Whose rules	The question to ask
The notarial act	The jurisdiction that appointed the notary	Is this person a notary, and can they do this, here, in this way?
The document	The law that governs the instrument	What witnessing does this document require, and does my witness qualify?
The destination	The authority receiving it	What will it accept, including apostille, wording and remote execution?

The third layer usually decides the outcome for documents going overseas. An act that is perfectly valid under Australian law can still be refused by a foreign registry that expects a wet-ink signature or particular wording. Ask the receiving authority first.

Before you use a notary in another state

Using a notary interstate is usually straightforward, particularly when the notarial act is all you need. A short check first avoids the rare cases where it is not.

1. Identify the document's governing law. A certified copy or a signature for use overseas has none to worry about in Australia. An enduring power of attorney, a land transfer or a court document does.
2. Check the witness rules for that document, on the form itself or the relevant state's official guidance, and confirm a notary from another state qualifies.
3. Ask the receiving authority what it accepts, including wording, wet-ink signing and any translation.
4. Ask the notary whether they can act where you will be, particularly if you want them to travel or to act by video.
5. Attend with the originals, current photo ID and the document still unsigned.

Documents that may not need a notary at all

Before choosing a notary in any state, check whether you need one. For documents staying in Australia, a Justice of the Peace or another authorised person is often enough, and free. A JP's certification is not accepted overseas and cannot be apostilled, but for Home Affairs a copy certified by an authorised person is usually all that is asked. Some original Australian public documents, such as registry certificates and national police checks, can go straight to DFAT with no notary; confirm the current list with DFAT before lodging. State guides are on our pages for New South Wales and Victoria.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A woman living in Darwin needs two things: a certified copy of her Queensland birth certificate for a registry in Portugal, and an enduring power of attorney so her brother in Brisbane can manage her Queensland affairs. The certified copy can be done by any notary, in Darwin, because it is a comparison between the original and the copy, and DFAT will check the notary's specimen before apostilling it. The enduring power of attorney is different. Its form and witnessing rules come from the law under which it is made, so she asks a solicitor which state's form to use and who may witness it. The notary's state turned out to matter for neither document; the document's governing law mattered for one.

In short

The notarial act is essentially the same in every Australian state and territory, and DFAT treats every notary's certificate the same way. Appointment, supervision, remote witnessing and fee guidance differ locally. The rule that most often matters is the one attached to the document: enduring powers of attorney, land dealings and court documents follow the law that governs them. For documents going overseas, ask the receiving authority first.

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