A Notary Public is a public officer, usually a senior lawyer, authroised to witness signatures, certify documents, and administer oaths for important legal documents used across borders for international use, providing authenticity and preventing fraud through their signature and official seal for a range of matters including visas, property and business.

Key Functions:

• Witnessing & Certifying: Verifying signatures and creating certified true copies of documents (e.g., passports, academic records).

• Administering Oaths: Taking affidavits and statutory declarations for use in foreign courts or legal matters.

• Authenticating Documents: Preparing notarial certificates to authenticate documents for international use, such as property transfers, wills, or business contracts.

• International Focus: Their primary role is often to make documents valid for use in foreign countries, a process called notarization. 

Why You Might Need One:

• Immigration or visa applications for overseas.

• International property sales or inheritance.

• Overseas business transactions.

• Documents for foreign courts or legal proceedings. 

How They're Appointed (in Australia):

• In Australia, they are typically appointed by a State or Territory Supreme Court or, in Queensland, by the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

In essence, a Notary Public acts as an impartial, trusted witness to verify the integrity and authenticity of documents for official purposes, particularly across border

Most countries follow the procedures set out in the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (often called the Hague Apostille Convention).

The steps are:

1. Sign and complete the document in the presence of a Notary.

2. Present the document to the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT) to get an Apostille (or authentication) and pay the fee. You may wish to have the Notary provide that additional service on your behalf.

3. Send the finished document to the destination country.

‘Apostille‘ is French for a ‘footnote‘. France co-sponsored the Hague Apostille Convention thus its terminology was adopted.

An Apostille is affixed by the relevant authority in a country which has acceded to that convention, either by a rubber stamp, verified by an authorised person and sealed with an official seal, or by attaching a separate certificate.

An Apostille certifies that the notary or government authority which issued the document is indeed authorised to do so.

Similarly, an authentication will be affixed by DFAT for non-Hague Convention countries.

No, Notary Publics are different to Justices of the Peace (JP) in several important respects.

For example, a Notary is required to be a Lawyer and a JP is not. Notaries are recognised internationally; JPs are only recognised within Australia. 

Notaries are practising Lawyers, their fees must be fair and reasonable in the circumstances of each case. The Society does have a recommended Scale of Fees (this is a PDF link). However, Notaries are free to set their own fees, as the Society does not control fees that Notaries may charge.

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