Online Notary in Australia: How It Works

An online notary in Australia can sometimes witness a signature or administer an oath by video, where the notary's state or territory allows it. A certified copy still needs the original in the notary's hands. Whether the result is usable is decided by the authority receiving the document, so ask it before you book.

Key takeaways

• There is no single national rule for remote notarisation. It depends on the law where the notary practises and on the type of document.
• The receiving authority decides whether it accepts a remotely executed act, and that matters more than what Australian law allows.
• A notary cannot certify a copy from a scan or a webcam image. The original has to reach them.
• "Remote online notary" is an American term. There is no Australian equivalent commission.
• A remote appointment removes travel, not steps. The apostille, legalisation and translation still happen separately.

What "online notary" can mean

Three different arrangements get called online notarisation, remote notarisation or a video notary. They are not interchangeable, and a foreign authority that refuses one may accept another.

Remote appointment, physical document. You meet the notary by video, but the original is couriered to them or presented in person at some point. The notary still physically handles the original, which is why this arrangement tends to meet the fewest objections.

Fully remote execution. Identity is checked by video, the document is signed electronically, and the notarial certificate is applied digitally. Some authorities accept this. Many do not, particularly countries that expect a wet-ink signature and a physical seal.

Electronic delivery of a traditional act. The notarisation happens in person in the usual way and you receive a scan straight away, with the original to follow. This is a delivery convenience, not online notarisation.

When an overseas authority says it will not accept "online notarisation", it usually means the second. Ask which of the three it means before assuming your document is unusable.

"Remote online notary" is an American term

A "remote online notary", or RON, belongs to the United States. There, many states commission notaries specifically to perform electronic notarisations over video, under state laws built for that purpose. Articles about becoming a remote online notary, and RON platforms, are describing that American system.

It does not carry over. An Australian notary public is an experienced lawyer appointed under state or territory arrangements, in most by the Supreme Court and in Queensland through the Court of Faculties, not a commissioned lay witness. There is no Australian RON commission. A US remote online notarisation is also not an Australian notarial act for the purposes of DFAT. See Australian and US notaries compared.

Where remote execution is allowed in Australia

Australian states and territories legislated for remote witnessing during the pandemic, and several kept those arrangements afterwards. The detail differs by jurisdiction, applies to some kinds of documents and not others, and continues to change. Treat any blanket claim, including a table of states on a website, as something to confirm against the current law in the relevant state.

What has not changed anywhere: a notary must be satisfied of your identity, your capacity to sign, and that you are signing freely. Video makes each of those harder to establish, not easier. That is why a notary may still ask you to attend in person for a document with serious consequences, such as a power of attorney over property. Our article on capacity and duress checks explains what the notary is looking for.

Two practical wrinkles are worth raising with the notary before you book. First, documents such as wills, enduring powers of attorney and property transfers often have witnessing rules of their own, separate from the general remote-witnessing rules, so a document can fall outside what video allows even where video is allowed in general. For those, speak to a solicitor about validity. Second, if you and the notary are in different states, it may not be obvious whose rules govern the act. The notary should be able to tell you how they approach that, and whether they will act at all.

Which notarial acts can be done remotely

This is where many "notarise documents online" pages mislead. The answer depends on the act, not on the technology.

Notarial act	Can it be done by video alone?	Why
Certifying a copy of an original	No	The notary must sight the original. A scan or webcam image is not the original.
Witnessing a signature	Possibly	Only where the notary's jurisdiction allows it and the receiver accepts it.
Administering an oath or affirmation	Possibly	Same conditions. Some courts and registries insist on attendance.
Witnessing an electronic signature	Sometimes	The notary must watch it being made, in real time, by the person identified.

So certifying a copy of a passport, degree or birth certificate cannot properly be completed from a video call. The original has to reach the notary. For more, see online certified copies in Australia.

An electronic signature notarisation is also not the same as signing a PDF in an e-signing app. Where the law allows it and the notary is willing, the notary watches the document being signed electronically and applies a digital notarial certificate. Whether that result is any use depends, again, on the receiving authority.

What the receiving authority decides

An Australian notary can perform an act that is perfectly valid under Australian law, and a foreign ministry, registry, bank or court can still refuse it. Before you book a remote appointment, ask the receiving authority three questions, and get the answers in writing if you can:

1. Will you accept a notarial act executed by video link?
2. Do you require a wet-ink signature and a physical seal?
3. If the document needs an apostille or authentication, will DFAT authenticate the form of notarisation being proposed?

DFAT authenticates a notary's signature and seal against its specimen records. It accepts only a limited range of electronic documents, assessed on lodgement, and a scan is never an electronic document for this purpose. Only DFAT issues apostilles in Australia, and an apostille confirms the signature and seal, not the contents. Whether a destination needs an apostille or embassy legalisation depends on its Hague Convention status, so check the HCCH status table on the day. Our apostille and authentication page covers that step.

If you cannot get clear answers, default to an in-person appointment. A document rejected at a visa or settlement deadline costs far more than the travel.

What you need for a remote appointment

• Photo identification, usually a current passport, shown to the camera and often provided as a scan beforehand.
• A quiet, private room. The notary is assessing whether anyone is pressuring you. Someone off camera prompting you is a reason to stop.
• The document, unsigned. The notary must see the signature being made.
• A stable connection and a device with a decent camera. A frozen call at the moment of signing breaks the observation.

Questions to ask the notary before a remote appointment

Notaries differ in what they will do by video, and the answers shape the whole arrangement. Ask before you commit:

• Which acts will you perform by video for this document, and under which state's rules?
• Do you need the original posted to you before, during or after the call?
• Will your certificate be on paper with a physical seal, or digital?
• Have documents you notarised this way been accepted by DFAT or by this destination before?
• What identification do you need to see, and do you want a copy in advance?
• What happens if you are not satisfied about identity or consent during the call?

A notary who answers these plainly, including "I would not do this one remotely", is giving you useful information rather than losing a booking.

What a remote appointment does not save you

Remote appointments remove travel, not steps. You will usually still need to send the physical document where a certified copy or wet-ink act is required, obtain the apostille or embassy legalisation separately, and arrange certified translation separately. The saving is real for people in regional areas, for people with limited mobility, and for Australians overseas who need an Australian notary. It is smaller than it looks for someone who lives near a notary's office.

If you are overseas, also ask whether the receiving authority would prefer a local notary or an Australian consular officer where you are. For some purposes that is simpler. See using an Australian notary from overseas.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A man living in a remote part of Western Australia needs to sign a declaration for a pension authority in Europe. He finds a notary who offers video appointments and, before booking, emails the pension authority. It replies that it accepts a notarised declaration signed by video, but wants a wet-ink signature and an embossed seal, apostilled. So the appointment goes ahead by video, he signs the paper original on camera, and posts it to the notary, who completes the certificate and arranges the DFAT step. He saved a long drive, but not a single step in the chain.

In short

Online notarisation in Australia is possible for some acts, in some jurisdictions, for some receiving authorities. Certified copies are not among them, because the original must be sighted. Ask the receiving authority the three questions first, and treat the answer as more important than anything a notary or a website can tell you. You can read about document notarisation in general before you decide.

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