Notary Public vs Justice of the Peace

If the document is going overseas, you need a notary public. If it is staying in Australia, a Justice of the Peace is usually enough and costs nothing. Both can witness signatures and certify copies, but only a notary's certificate can be apostilled by DFAT and is recognised by foreign authorities.

Key takeaways

• A JP and a notary are different offices, appointed by different bodies. A JP cannot notarise a document.
• A JP is a free volunteer witness for Australian use. A JP's certification is not accepted overseas and cannot be apostilled.
• A notary is usually an experienced solicitor whose signature and seal DFAT holds on record, which is what makes an apostille possible.
• For most Australian visa and citizenship applications, Home Affairs accepts copies certified by an authorised person. A notary is often not needed.
• A useful test: if the person who will read the document is outside Australia, assume a notary is needed and confirm in writing.

Why getting this wrong costs more than the fee

Choosing a JP for an overseas document does not fail at the counter. The JP certifies the copy, you post it, and you find out weeks later, when a foreign registry, embassy or university rejects it. By then your deadline has moved, and you have to start again with the original. Choosing a notary for a document staying in Australia fails the other way: it works, but you have paid for something available free. Both mistakes are avoidable with one question asked at the start: who will read this document, and where?

What a Justice of the Peace is

A Justice of the Peace in Australia is a volunteer appointed by a state or territory government to witness statutory declarations and affidavits and to certify copies of documents, for use within Australia. JPs need not be lawyers and are not paid. Their authority comes from the state or territory that appointed them, and what a JP may do, and how someone becomes one, differs between jurisdictions. Queensland, for example, also has Commissioners for Declarations with a narrower role. See commissioners for declarations in Queensland.

In many places JPs are easy to find through public JP services, libraries, councils and state registers, and some sessions need no booking. That accessibility, and the fact that they are free, is exactly why they are the right choice for most domestic paperwork.

What a notary public is

A notary public in Australia is almost always an experienced solicitor, appointed under state or territory arrangements: in most, by the Supreme Court; in Queensland, through the Court of Faculties of the Archbishop of Canterbury. A notary keeps a permanent register of their acts, and lodges a specimen signature and seal with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. That specimen is what allows DFAT to confirm the notary's signature and issue an apostille or authentication certificate.

A notary certifies copies, witnesses signatures and administers oaths. A notary never certifies that a document's contents are true, must sight the original, and checks identity, capacity and free consent before acting. See what a notary public does, and how notaries are appointed.

The practical differences

Question	Justice of the Peace	Notary public
Appointed by	State or territory government	Usually the Supreme Court; in Queensland, the Court of Faculties
Legal qualification	Not required	Almost always an experienced solicitor
Recognised overseas	No	Yes, through DFAT
Can be apostilled by DFAT	No	Yes
Keeps a notarial register	No	Yes, permanently
Cost	Free	The notary's own fee, plus DFAT's separate charge
How to find one	Public JP services and registers	By appointment, often through a society of notaries

Can a JP notarise documents?

No. To "notarise" means a notary performs a notarial act: identifying you, witnessing a signature or certifying a copy, and issuing a certificate under their signature and seal, recorded in their register. A JP can witness and certify for domestic purposes, but that is not a notarial act. It cannot be apostilled, and it cannot be legalised by an embassy.

When a foreign form says "attested by a JP or notary", read it carefully. Unless the receiving authority confirms in writing that an Australian JP is acceptable, use a notary. The JP option on such forms is often written with the issuing country's own officials in mind, and "Justice of the Peace" means different things in different countries.

When a JP is the right choice

• Certifying a copy of your driver licence for an Australian bank.
• Witnessing a statutory declaration for an Australian government department.
• Certifying qualifications for an Australian employer.
• Witnessing an affidavit for an Australian court, where the court's rules permit it.

In these cases, paying a notary buys nothing. A JP's certification is exactly what the receiving party expects. The same goes for most Australian visa and citizenship applications: Home Affairs usually accepts uploaded scans or copies certified by an authorised person. Check the instructions for your visa on the Home Affairs immigration site.

When only a notary will do

• Any document going to a foreign government, court, university or registry.
• Anything that needs an apostille or embassy legalisation.
• Documents for overseas property transactions.
• Company documents for a foreign registry or bank.
• Powers of attorney meant to operate in another country.
• Documents for foreign immigration authorities.

After the notary, DFAT issues an apostille for countries in the Hague Apostille Convention, or an authentication certificate followed by embassy legalisation for countries outside it. Membership changes, so check the HCCH status table on the day. Some original Australian public documents, such as registry certificates and national police checks, can go straight to DFAT with no notary or JP at all. Our apostille and authentication page covers that step.

If you used a JP and it was rejected overseas

1. Get the rejection in writing, with what the authority wants instead.
2. Retrieve the original document. A JP certification cannot be upgraded, countersigned or apostilled, so the notary needs the original again.
3. Check whether a notary is needed at all. For some public documents, DFAT can act on the original directly.
4. Have the document notarised, bringing the original and current photo ID.
5. Lodge with DFAT, then the embassy if the country is outside the Hague Convention.

The grey area, and other authorised witnesses

Some Australian institutions accept either a JP or a notary. Some overseas institutions occasionally accept a JP certification. Neither is a reason to guess. Ask the receiving authority, in writing, which it requires, and keep the answer.

Many occupations, such as pharmacists, police officers, and some bank staff and accountants, are authorised to certify copies or witness declarations for domestic purposes. The lists are set by law and differ between the Commonwealth and each state and territory. That authority is domestic only, and none of it can be apostilled. Being a solicitor does not make someone a notary either. See solicitor or notary certification.

Video witnessing: JPs and notaries

Since 2020, several states have allowed some documents to be witnessed by audiovisual link, and in some states that includes JPs witnessing certain declarations and affidavits for use in Australia. The rules differ between states, cover some documents and not others, and have changed more than once. Certifying a copy almost always still needs the original in front of the witness, JP or notary.

For documents going overseas, the Australian rule is only half the answer. Whether a foreign registry or court accepts a notarial act performed by video is decided by that receiving authority, and many still expect the signer to have been physically present. A JP's remote witnessing does not change the basic position either: it is still a domestic act that cannot be apostilled.

Translations and certified copies

If a document is not in English, neither a JP nor a notary makes it readable. For Home Affairs, a translation made in Australia should be by a NAATI-credentialled translator, and a JP may then certify a copy if one is asked for. For a foreign authority, ask whether it wants the translation notarised, apostilled, or done after the original is legalised.

Civil-law notaries and US notaries

In much of Europe, Latin America and parts of Asia, a civil-law notary is a public officer who drafts and authenticates major legal instruments, such as property transfers, company formations and marriage contracts, and whose documents carry special evidential weight. An Australian notary primarily authenticates: witnessing signatures, certifying copies and administering oaths. A US notary is different again, typically a lay person commissioned to witness signatures. Because Australian notaries are usually senior lawyers, instructions written for US notaries often need translating into Australian practice.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A student in Canberra needs two copies of her passport: one for an Australian bank, and one for a university in Germany. She has both certified by a JP at her local library in one visit. The bank accepts its copy. The German university writes back weeks later asking for a notarised copy with an apostille. She takes her passport to a notary, who certifies a new copy, and DFAT apostilles it. Had she asked the university first, the library visit would have covered the bank and a single notary appointment would have covered Germany.

In short

A JP is a free volunteer witness for documents used in Australia. A notary is usually a senior lawyer whose certificate DFAT can apostille for use overseas. Ask who will read the document before choosing, get the receiving authority's answer in writing when a form offers both, and remember that for many public documents DFAT can act on the original directly.

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