Notary Locator
Welcome to Notary Locator
Notary Locator :: Public Services In Sydney, Melbourne & More
Welcome to our free online national Directory designed to assist you locate your nearest Notary Public, ready, willing and able to provide notary services for you - wherever you live or work, including Sydney, Melbourne, other Australian capital cities, major cities, metropolitan areas, country towns and regions.
Find A Notary
Select a State or Territory in the map above, or choose its official State flag located in the left hand margin, and then click to continue.
Select a Region within that State or Territory, and then click to continue.
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Solicitors | Notarise International Documents
Whether you are a member of the legal profession, insurance | finance industry, a multinational, a small business, or an individual member of the community, you are invited to search this website's pages to locate a practising Notary Public located near you, authorised by law to notarise international documents and perform other useful notary services, such as witnessing signatures to documents, administering oaths to affidavits, or certifying copy documents as true and correct copies.
A Notary in Australia is normally a long serving practising solicitor appointed by a relevant State or Territory Supreme Court (with the exception of Queensland, where Public Notaries are appointed by an English civil servant - the Master of Faculties, who represents the highest ranking English Church of England cleric, the Archbishop of Canterbury).
Administration of Oaths | Red Seal | Stamp
Notaries in Australia are permitted to prepare and execute legal documents for use in overseas countries in conjunction with their other notarial duties defined in the various State statutes under they are appointed.
Australian appointees affix their identifying red seal or stamp to documents as near as possible to their witnessing signature.
Those who require the services of a public notary listed on this website must positively identify themselves when attending their appointments with notaries, by producing a formal ID documentation e.g. current passport or driver's licence.
Our USA Notary Public counterparts also administer oaths, take acknowledgments, and perform other wide ranging and useful functions, but are not qualified lawyers and consequently are not permitted to offer or give legal advice or prepare legal documents.
The explanation for this important distinction is that American equivalents have no formal legal training.
Australian appointees are also authorised to practise for life, unless removed from the Roll for misconduct, or retire; American notaries are only appointed for short, consecutive terms.
Foreign Affidivit | Statutory Declaration | Certify Copy
Only a Notary in Australia may witness an affidavit, statutory declaration, or certify or verify copied documents required for use in foreign countries. Some foreign countries or their governments may not only require a notary to witness signatures, but also require notarised documents to be legalised or authenticated by the Australian Government with the issue of an Apostille Certificate, as a precaution against fraudulent or improper witnessing.
Justice of the Peace | Commissioner for Affidavits
A Justice of the Peace ("JP") is normally a reputable Australian businessman or prominent citizen appointed by a State or Territory government empowered to witness sworn affidavits, statutory declarations, or certify copied documents, for use within a particular State or Territory of Australia.
A Commissioner for Affidavits or Commissioner for Declarations is normally a practising lawyer who has been commissioned by a Supreme Court to perform similar administrative functions as a JP. Unlike JPs however, Commissioners for Affidavits are permitted to charge fees for their professional services.
Commissioners of Affidavits or Declarations also are not permitted to witness or certify documents for use outside Australia: this function without exception remains the exclusive prerogative of a Notary Public - the only true "international JP".
