Notary vs Lawyer in Australia: The Key Differences

In Australia, a lawyer advises, drafts and represents clients. A notary performs independent notarial acts—such as certifying copies or witnessing signatures—commonly for overseas use. Australian notaries are ordinarily experienced legal practitioners with a separate notarial appointment or admission, but a notarial act is not automatically legal advice.

Key takeaways

• A lawyer (solicitor or barrister) gives legal advice, drafts documents, negotiates and represents clients.
• A notary performs notarial acts: certifying copies, witnessing signatures and administering oaths, mainly for documents going overseas.
• Australian notaries are ordinarily experienced legal practitioners who have separately qualified and been appointed or admitted under their jurisdiction's rules. A lawyer without notarial authority cannot perform the same act.
• Certifying a copy or witnessing a signature does not establish that every statement in the underlying document is true, and the certificate is not advice that the document will achieve its purpose.
• For many overseas matters you need both: a lawyer, often in the destination country, to get the document right, and a notary to certify the signing.

What does a lawyer do?

A lawyer in Australia is admitted to the legal profession by the Supreme Court of a state or territory and needs a current practising certificate to practise. Lawyers work as solicitors, who advise clients and handle transactions, or as barristers, who mainly appear in court. Their core work is:

• giving legal advice on your rights, obligations and options;
• drafting wills, contracts, leases, powers of attorney and company documents;
• negotiating and handling disputes;
• representing clients in courts and tribunals;
• running transactions such as property purchases and business sales.

Lawyers specialise, in family, property, commercial, criminal, immigration and many other fields, and are regulated by the legal profession authorities in their state or territory.

What does a notary do?

A notary public performs formal acts intended to be relied on beyond the immediate transaction, especially for overseas use. Appointment, admission, eligibility and record-keeping rules differ by state and territory. For example, New South Wales notaries are appointed by the Supreme Court under the Public Notaries Act 1997 after meeting experience and training requirements. DFAT maintains a database of Australian notaries' signatures and uses it when verifying a notarisation for an apostille or authentication. See DFAT's current notary and JP guidance and the NSW appointment example.

A notary's core acts are:

• certifying that a copy matches an original the notary has sighted;
• witnessing signatures, after checking identity, understanding and free consent;
• administering oaths and affirmations for affidavits and declarations;
• preparing notarial certificates in the form a foreign authority expects, including for companies.

The scope depends on the particular notarial act and certificate. A routine true-copy certificate records a comparison; a signature certificate records the execution steps stated in it. Neither should be read as blanket confirmation that every underlying assertion is true. See what a notary public does.

The practical differences

Question	Lawyer	Notary
Who admits or appoints them?	Admission and practising arrangements operate under the law of the relevant state or territory	The appointment or admission route depends on the state or territory
Who do they act for?	The client	Independent; the certificate is relied on by third parties
Gives legal advice?	Yes	Not as part of the notarial act
Drafts documents?	Yes	Prepares the notarial certificate, not usually the document
Accepted overseas?	Only if the receiving authority accepts that lawyer's act	Often, with DFAT legalisation only when the receiving authority requires it
Can certify copies for Australian use?	Often, as an authorised witness	Yes, though a JP is usually enough and free

The fastest way to choose is to ask what outcome is missing. If you need the document drafted, interpreted, negotiated or tested against a law, start with the relevant lawyer. If the document is already settled and a foreign recipient requires independent certification of a signature, identity, authority or copy, ask a notary. If the recipient merely asks for a “certified copy”, request clarification about the acceptable certifier and whether DFAT legalisation is also required before paying for either service.

Can a notary give legal advice?

This is where many pages oversimplify. Because most Australian notaries are also practising solicitors, a notary may well be able to advise you, but when they do, they are acting as your lawyer, not performing a notarial act. The two roles pull in different directions. As your lawyer, they are on your side. As a notary, they are an independent officer certifying facts to someone overseas who cannot check them.

For a routine certified copy, that tension never arises. For a contentious document, such as a power of attorney in a family dispute or a declaration used against another party, it can. Many notaries keep the roles apart in those cases, and some will ask you to take advice from another lawyer first. That is not unhelpful; it protects the certificate. See conflicts a notary must refuse.

Can a lawyer notarise documents?

Only if they have been appointed as a notary. Many solicitors are authorised witnesses for statutory declarations and certified copies used in Australia, but that is a domestic role. A solicitor's certified copy is generally not accepted by foreign authorities, and DFAT will not apostille it. See solicitor or notary certification.

When do you need a lawyer, a notary, or both?

Situation	Usually
Certifying a passport copy for an Australian visa	Neither: an authorised person such as a JP, or just a scan
Certifying a passport copy for a foreign university	A notary, then DFAT if asked
Making a will	A lawyer
Buying property in Australia	A conveyancer or property lawyer
A power of attorney for property overseas	A lawyer, often in that country, then a notary here
A board resolution for a foreign bank	A notary, and a lawyer if the resolution needs drafting

How a typical overseas matter uses both

1. Get the foreign requirements in writing from the receiving authority or its lawyer.
2. Have a lawyer prepare or check the document, ideally one who knows the law where it will be used.
3. Sign before a notary, with the unsigned original and current photo ID.
4. Use DFAT only if required for an apostille or authentication, then follow any additional destination-country process the receiving authority specifies.
5. Send the original to the foreign authority or lawyer.

Hague Convention membership changes, so check the HCCH status table on the day. Our power of attorney and declarations page covers the notarial side of those documents.

How do lawyer and notary costs differ?

Pages that quote fixed prices for notaries and lawyers go stale quickly, so we do not. The structure is more useful. Notaries usually charge per notarial act, with more for complex certificates, company matters or handling DFAT for you. Lawyers usually charge by time or a fixed fee for defined work, and advice on a foreign-law document may need a lawyer in that country. DFAT charges separately for each apostille or authentication, and embassies set their own legalisation fees. Ask each for a written quote. See how notary fees are set.

Common misconceptions

• "A notary checks that my document is legally correct." Not merely by certifying a signing or copy. Whether the document achieves its legal purpose requires separate legal analysis.
• "Any lawyer can notarise." No. Only a lawyer appointed as a notary can perform notarial acts recognised overseas.
• "A notary can never give advice." A notary who is also a solicitor may, but then acts as a lawyer, and may keep the roles separate for contentious matters.
• "A JP is a kind of notary." No. A JP performs authorised domestic witnessing functions. DFAT says JPs cannot certify documents for overseas use; use an Australian notary where overseas certification is required. See notary or JP.

Business documents: which one you need

Companies often need both, for different parts of the same job. A lawyer drafts or reviews the board resolution, the contract, the shareholder agreement or the power of attorney, and advises on whether it achieves what the company wants under the law that governs it. A notary then certifies the signing for a foreign registry or bank, and may also certify the company's existence and the signer's authority after checking a current ASIC extract and the resolution. Certified copies of a certificate of registration or a company extract for a foreign party usually need only the notary. Structuring a merger, handling a dispute or drafting an employment contract needs only the lawyer.

How to check that someone is a notary

Because the title matters, check it. Notaries are recorded by the body that appointed them, and state and territory societies of notaries often publish lists of members. A lawyer's admission and practising certificate can be checked with the legal profession regulator in their state or territory. A person who is one is not automatically the other. If a document must be notarised for use overseas, make sure the person signing the certificate is a notary, not just a solicitor or a JP, or DFAT will not be able to apostille it.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A man in Melbourne wants to give his sister in Chennai authority to sell his flat there. He asks a notary to "do the power of attorney". The notary explains that she can attest his signature, but the document should be prepared or checked by a lawyer in India, because Indian law decides what the power must say and how it is registered. He instructs a lawyer in Chennai, who sends a draft. He signs it before the notary with his passport, DFAT apostilles the notary's certificate, and the lawyer in Chennai handles registration there. He needed both roles, performed by different people, in the right order.

In short

A lawyer advises, drafts and represents you. A notary certifies signatures, copies and oaths so that people overseas can rely on them. Most Australian notaries are also lawyers, but a notarial act is not advice and not every lawyer is a notary. For documents going abroad, get the document right with a lawyer first, then have it notarised, then take it to DFAT.

Related questions

• How do you become a notary public in Australia?
• How is an Australian notary different from a US notary?
• How do I make a power of attorney for use overseas?
• When does a contract need to be notarised?
• What does a notarial certificate actually prove?

For a document-specific quote, send us the document type, destination country and receiving authority, whether advice or drafting is needed, number of signers and copies, location and deadline. We will explain the notarial steps we can provide before you book.