A notary public, or notary, is a public officer, usually appointed by a State or Territory Supreme Court, and given statutory powers to witness documents, administer oaths, and perform other legal functions of a national and international nature.

A Justice of the Peace or solicitor in Australia may provide similar services, with the clear distinction that they are not allowed to witness documents for use in foreign countries. Notaries have this exclusive right and are the only true international solicitor in Australia.

All Notaries’ seals and signatures must be officially recorded in a data base held by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), who is authorised to issue apostille or authentication certificates certifying that the signatures, seals, or stamps of Notaries on documents are authentic.

In order to apply to be a New South Wales Notary Public, you must be a New South Wales Lawyer with at least 5 years of experience and have completed the prescribed Notarial Practice Course. The applicant may then apply to the Legal Profession Admission Board (the Board). Upon appointment, the name of the notary is entered on the Roll of Public Notaries maintained by the Board.

1. We receive instruction to draft documents, or you post the documents (if outside Australia) or come into our office for an appointment with all relevant documents and identification.
2. If required we can assist with the translation of documents.
3. We notarise the documents.
4. We arrange for an apostille certificate or legalisation at DFAT.
5. We arrange for attestation at the relevant embassy or consulate; and
6. You collect the documents from us, or we can forward the documents to you, whatever country you may be in.

Yes. Other fees shall apply for payment of:

1. Postage or courier fees
2. Fees to DFAT
3. Consular fees to the relevant embassy or consulate
4. Additional legalisation requirements that may be required in the country of use.

In order to give you a fee estimate, many things need to be considered such as:

1. Urgency requirements
2. Drafting requirements
3. Level of legalisation required
4. Varying consular fees payable to relevant consulate or embassy.

Once we have received your enquiry, we shall be able to give you an estimate of the total fees and disbursements required for legalisation of your documents.

Note that we shall also endeavour to give you an estimate of the additional legalisation requirements that may be required in the country of use. However, this will only be a rough estimate at best, as different countries have different requirements which are subject to frequent change. Although, you may find in many circumstances that the person, organisation, or government authority requiring the document may agree to bear the costs of further legalisation required in that country.

If a document is to be signed by an individual and witnessed by a notary public, the notary public shall need to verify the identification of the individual. This is a simple matter of the individual bringing 100 points of identification (such as a current driver’s licence or passport) to the appointment. Please note that the notary shall require you to bring in original identification documents and it is at the sole discretion of the notary as to whether they accept the identification.

If the document is to be signed by an authorised representative of a company, the authorised representative shall need to bring 100 points of identification and also documentation evidencing that that they are authorised to sign documents on behalf of the company. It is up to the notary to determine whether the evidence given is sufficient, and the notary may refuse to attest the signature of the authorised signatory in the event that they are not satisfied.

Please be aware the notary shall need to make and keep copies of the identification and authority documents for our records.