Is a JP a notary public in Australia?

No. A Justice of the Peace is a volunteer who witnesses documents for use in Australia. A notary public is an experienced lawyer appointed under state law whose seal is recognised overseas.

Can a notary public give legal advice?

A notary public is a lawyer, so a notary can advise on a document if engaged to do so as a lawyer. The notarial act itself only confirms identity, signing and formality.

Do I need an apostille as well as a notary?

Usually, yes, if the document is going to a country that asks for legalisation. The notary signs and seals the document, then DFAT adds an apostille or an authentication certificate.

Who keeps the list of notaries in NSW?

The Legal Profession Admission Board administers public notary appointments in NSW, and its Executive Officer, as Registrar of Public Notaries, maintains the Roll of Public Notaries.

What Is a Notary Public? (Notary vs JP, Apostille)

A notary public is a senior lawyer appointed under state or territory law to witness signatures, certify copies and authenticate documents so that foreign governments, courts, banks and registries accept them when you use them overseas. To get a document ready for overseas use, you take the original document and your passport to a notary, and the notary's signature and seal are then usually followed by an apostille or authentication certificate from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

DFAT charges a fee for each apostille or authentication certificate; its published consular fee schedule listed $105 per document as at April 2026. Which of the two certificates you need depends on whether the destination country is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention. You can compare notaries by city on Notaries Public in Australia.

The table below shows who to use for which job.

	Notary public	Justice of the Peace (JP)	Authorised witness (pharmacist, police officer and others)
Appointed by	State or territory, under a Public Notaries Act or Supreme Court rules	State or territory government	Not appointed; the role comes from the witness's occupation
Must be a lawyer?	Yes; in NSW and Victoria, at least 5 years of practice	No	No
Cost	A fee, set by the notary (capped in WA)	Free volunteer service	Depends on the witness
Accepted overseas?	Yes, usually with a DFAT apostille or authentication	Not usually	Not usually
Typical documents	Powers of attorney, company documents, certified copies and affidavits for foreign use	Statutory declarations, affidavits and certified copies for Australian use	Commonwealth statutory declarations
Can give legal advice?	Yes, as a lawyer, if engaged to do so	No	No

A document going overseas usually follows 3 steps: firstly, a notary signs and seals it; secondly, DFAT issues an apostille or authentication certificate; thirdly, for a country outside the Apostille Convention, the country's embassy or consulate legalises it.

What is a notary public?

A notary public is an experienced lawyer who holds a public office, separate from ordinary legal practice, to perform notarial acts that are recognised internationally. The notary's signature and seal confirm that a document was properly signed by the right person. In NSW, appointments are made under the Public Notaries Act 1997 (NSW), and the Legal Profession Admission Board maintains the Roll of Public Notaries. In Victoria, the Public Notaries Act 2001 (Vic) and the Supreme Court (Miscellaneous Civil Proceedings) Rules 2008 govern appointments.

"Public notary" means the same thing. The NSW, Victorian and Western Australian Acts all use that term.

What does a notary public do?

A notary public performs 7 main notarial acts:

Verify identity of the person signing, usually from a passport.
Witness signatures on documents for foreign use, such as powers of attorney and contracts.
Certify copies of passports, degrees, transcripts and company records as true copies.
Authenticate documents such as company resolutions and certificates of incorporation.
Administer oaths and affirmations for affidavits and declarations used in foreign proceedings.
Prepare notarial certificates that record what the notary did and attach to the document.
Arrange legalisation by lodging the document with DFAT for an apostille or authentication, where the notary offers this.

Who can be a notary public in Australia?

Only an experienced lawyer can be a notary public in Australia. Each state sets its own appointing law and requirements.

What are the requirements?

The requirements in NSW and Victoria include 5 years of legal practice and a notarial course.

NSW: under rule 2 of the Public Notaries Appointment Rules 1998, a candidate must have been a legal practitioner for a continuous period of at least 5 years, hold a current Australian practising certificate, and complete a notarial practice course conducted or approved by the Legal Profession Admission Board.
Victoria: a candidate must be an Australian lawyer who has held a practising certificate as a principal for at least 5 years, has completed an approved course in notarial practice, and whom the Victorian Legal Admissions Board is satisfied is a fit and proper person.

Which law appoints notaries in each state?

State	Appointing law	Who administers or appoints
NSW	Public Notaries Act 1997 (NSW); Public Notaries Appointment Rules 1998	Legal Profession Admission Board, which keeps the Roll of Public Notaries
Victoria	Public Notaries Act 2001 (Vic); Supreme Court (Miscellaneous Civil Proceedings) Rules 2008	Victorian Legal Admissions Board
Western Australia	Public Notaries Act 1979 (WA)	The Full Court of the Supreme Court, which appoints General and District Public Notaries

In the other states and territories, notaries are also lawyers appointed under local legislation or Supreme Court rules.

Is a pharmacist a notary public?

No. A pharmacist is an authorised witness for Commonwealth statutory declarations under Schedule 1 of the Statutory Declarations Regulations 2023 (Cth), but a pharmacist is not a notary and cannot perform notarial acts for overseas use.

Is a police officer a notary public?

No. A police officer is also on the list of authorised witnesses for Commonwealth statutory declarations in the Statutory Declarations Regulations 2023 (Cth), alongside Justices of the Peace and notaries public. That makes a police officer a witness for Australian declarations, not a notary.

Is a JP the same as a notary public?

No. A Justice of the Peace and a notary public do different jobs. A JP is a volunteer who witnesses statutory declarations and affidavits and certifies copies for use in Australia, free of charge. A notary public is a lawyer who charges a fee and whose seal is recognised by foreign authorities. For a document that will stay in Australia, a JP is usually enough; for a document that is going overseas, the receiving authority usually asks for a notary.

What is an apostille?

An apostille is a certificate issued by DFAT that confirms the signature, seal or stamp on an Australian public document, so that the document is accepted in another country that is a party to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents 1961. DFAT is the Australian legalisation authority, and no other authority in Australia can legalise documents.

Apostille or authentication: which do you need?

You need an apostille if the destination country is a party to the Apostille Convention, and an authentication certificate if it is not. After an authentication, the document usually goes to that country's embassy or consulate in Australia for legalisation. DFAT notes that the two certificates serve the same purpose, and that the receiving country decides which type it will accept.

Does every document need a notary before an apostille?

No. DFAT verifies the signature, seal or stamp on an original Australian public document, such as a birth, marriage or death certificate issued by a state or territory registry, so an original public document can go straight to DFAT. Photocopies and private documents, such as a power of attorney or a company resolution, need to be notarised first.

How much does a notary public cost?

A notary public in Australia typically charges between $100 and $250 for the first signature or document, plus extra for additional signatures, pages and copies. The figures are indicative as at September 2026 and vary between notaries.

Cost item	Indicative amount
Notary, first signature or document	Around $100 to $250
Notary, each additional signature or certified copy	Around $50 to $120
DFAT apostille or authentication	$105 per document (DFAT consular fee schedule, April 2026)
Embassy legalisation (non-Convention countries)	Set by the embassy

In Western Australia, maximum notarial fees are prescribed by the Legal Profession (Public Notaries) Determination 2025. The NSW Legal Profession Admission Board does not set or publish notarial fees.

What should you bring to a notary appointment?

Bring 5 things to a notary appointment:

The original documents, unsigned if they need to be signed in front of the notary.
Photo identification, usually a current passport.
The receiving authority's instructions, showing what certification or legalisation it requires.
Translations, if the document or the instructions are not in English.
Proof of authority, such as a company resolution, if you are signing for a company.

How do you use a foreign notarised document in Australia?

A document from another country that is a party to the Apostille Convention needs only the apostille from that country, not further legalisation by an Australian embassy. The Australian organisation receiving the document sets its own requirements, including whether it needs an English translation, so check with that organisation before you arrange the apostille overseas.

Which notary should you choose?

Choose a notary by the job. For company documents, look for a notary who regularly handles corporate work. For an overseas property sale or a power of attorney, a notary who also practises in property or estates can advise on the document; see Power of Attorney vs Enduring Power of Attorney. If the signer is more comfortable in another language, look for a notary who speaks it. Notaries come from the legal profession, which is explained in Lawyer vs Solicitor vs Barrister.

Find a notary public near you

Compare notaries public by languages spoken, same-day appointments, fixed fees and whether they lodge the DFAT apostille for you on Notaries Public in Australia. City rankings are available for Notaries Public in Sydney, Notaries Public in Melbourne, Notaries Public in Brisbane and Notaries Public in Perth.