Solicitor Certification vs Notarial Certification: Which Do You Need?

The short answer: if the document is leaving Australia, you need a notarial certification. If it is staying here, a solicitor's certification is usually enough — and so, often, is a Justice of the Peace, for free.

One twist catches people out. Most Australian notaries are also solicitors, so the same person can give you either certification. If your solicitor is a notary and the document is going overseas, they need to sign as a notary. A certification signed in their capacity as a solicitor will not carry the document through DFAT, however senior the person who signed it.

Why the same person can give you two different things

A solicitor who holds a notarial appointment effectively has two capacities.

As a solicitor, they are one of the many occupations commonly authorised to certify copies and witness documents for Australian purposes. The certification is an endorsement on the copy with their signature and their description as a lawyer. It is a domestic act.

As a notary, they perform a notarial act: they issue a notarial certificate under their signature and official seal, and they record the act in their permanent notarial register. On appointment a notary lodges a specimen signature and seal with DFAT, which is what allows DFAT to verify the act and attach an apostille or authentication.

DFAT verifies against those notarial specimens. A solicitor's endorsement gives it nothing to verify, so it is generally not something DFAT can act on — even when the solicitor is, in another capacity, a notary whose specimen it holds.

The practical differences

	Solicitor certification	Notarial certification
Authority comes from	Authorised-certifier lists for domestic purposes	Appointment as a notary (usually by the Supreme Court)
Recognised overseas	Generally not, with some institutional exceptions	Yes
DFAT apostille or authentication	Generally not available	Available
Form	An endorsement written or stamped on the copy	A notarial certificate under seal, usually bound to the document
Record	No notarial register	Entered in a permanent register
Identity checking	As the receiver's rules require	To the standard foreign authorities rely on
Cost	Varies; sometimes folded into an existing matter	A notarial fee per act

When a solicitor's certification is the right choice

• An Australian government department, bank, employer or university lists solicitors among its acceptable certifiers.
• Documents for the Department of Home Affairs, where a copy certified by an authorised person is usually enough and a notary is often not needed.
• An affidavit for an Australian court, where the court's rules allow a solicitor to take it.
• Your solicitor is already acting for you in the matter and the receiver is Australian. It is simply convenient.

In each case a notarial certificate would be accepted too, but you would be paying for international recognition you do not need.

When only a notarial certification will do

• The document needs an apostille (Hague Convention destinations) or DFAT authentication and embassy legalisation (non-member destinations).
• It is going to a foreign government, court, registry or immigration authority.
• The foreign instruction says "notary public", "notarised" or "before a notary".
• It is a company document for a foreign registry, or a power of attorney meant to operate in another country.

Hague membership changes, so check your destination against the HCCH status table at the time you are acting.

The grey area: overseas institutions that list "a solicitor"

Some overseas institutions — more often banks, universities and professional bodies than governments — publish a list of acceptable certifiers that includes solicitors or lawyers, and ask for no apostille. Where that is the written requirement, a solicitor's certification may be all you need.

Before relying on it, confirm two things in writing: that a solicitor admitted in Australia is acceptable (the list may have meant solicitors in its own jurisdiction), and that no further authentication is required. If either answer is unclear, the notarial route is the one that cannot be refused on this ground.

Certification is not advice on the contents

A notarial certificate proves that a copy matches an original, or that a particular person signed in front of the notary. It does not say the document is valid, enforceable or in your interests.

For wills, deeds, property transfers, guardianship and powers of attorney, the execution and the content are separate questions. You may need a solicitor's advice on what the document does as well as a notary's act on how it was signed. The same practitioner may be able to provide both, but they are two pieces of work, and it is worth being clear which one you are asking for.

How to ask for the right one

Say what the document is for when you book, and name the destination. Then, at the appointment:

• Ask whether the certification will be a notarial certificate under seal.
• Check the finished document for the seal and the word "Notary" in the signature block before you leave.
• If the plan includes an apostille, ask the notary whether the certificate is in a form DFAT will act on.

Frequently asked questions

My solicitor certified a copy and DFAT would not apostille it. What now? Return to a notary with the original. A solicitor's endorsement cannot be upgraded or countersigned into a notarial act. If your solicitor is a notary, they can perform a fresh notarial act; the original document is not wasted.

How do I know whether my solicitor is a notary? Ask. Each state and territory keeps a record of the notaries it has appointed, and notarial societies in several jurisdictions publish directories. Confirm the current source for your state.

Is a notarial certification ever wrong for an Australian receiver? Rarely wrong, often unnecessary. An Australian body that accepts a solicitor or a JP will almost always accept a notary too; you will simply have paid more.

Can a solicitor witness my statutory declaration for use overseas? They can witness it validly for Australian purposes. For a foreign receiver, the declaration generally needs to be witnessed by a notary, so there is a verifiable signature and seal to authenticate.