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AUTHENTICATION OF THE NOTARIAL ACT

The notarial act must usually be authenticated before it will be recognised and given effect in the state of destination. Authentication may be by way of apostille or legalisation.

Apostille

• The Convention of 5 October 1961, Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, known as The Hague Apostille Convention ("the Convention"), provides a relatively simple method, for those states in which the Convention is in force ("States Party"), for the signatures and seals of notaries to be authenticated in the state of origin and recognised, and given effect, in the state of destination.

• Australia is a State Party to the Convention. In the case of any document to be used in another State Party, authentication is provided by way of "apostille". This is a special certificate, provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade ("DFAT"), for a fee. It is placed directly on the document itself or on a separate attached page (called an "allonge").

• Information about apostilles may be found in this brochure, published by the Hague Conference on Private International Law.

• The Hague Conference on Private International Law maintains this status table of "Contracting Parties" to the Convention.

• DFAT's Adelaide authentications office is at 1st Floor, Allianz House, 55 Currie Street, Adelaide. Appointments for apostilles and authentications are mandatory and are available only between 8.30am and 1.00pm on weekdays (excluding public holidays). Appointments may be made online on the Smartraveller website. The service may be subject to a "next business day" turnaround.

Legalisation

• In the case of any document to be used in a state of destination which is not a State Party to the Convention, authentication is provided by way of legalisation. The process entails two stages following the notarial act:
  
  
• DFAT authenticates the notary's signature and seal, by the provision of a certificate, called an "authentication", either placed directly on the document itself or on an allonge;
  
  
• the diplomatic or consular mission of the state of destination then certifies DFAT's authentication.
  

The process can be protracted and expensive, especially if the state of destination has no diplomatic or consular representation in Australia, or if its legalisation procedures are opaque or onerous.

• Lists of foreign high commissions, embassies and consulates in Australia are on the DFAT website.

Countries and jurisdictions which do not require authentication of Australian notarial acts

• Most states which are members of The Commonwealth, or are British Overseas Territories, do not require any form of authentication of an Australian notary's signature and seal. Notable exceptions are Bangladesh, Cyprus, India, Kenya, Pakistan and South Africa.

• The various jurisdictions of the United States of America have different requirements, dependant on the nature and purpose of the document concerned. For example, some US states do not require an apostille unless the document relates to real estate or is permitted or required to be registered or recorded in any municipal, county or state office.