Editing Notary public (section)

===Australia===
In all Australian states and territories (except Queensland) notaries public are appointed by the [[Australian court hierarchy#State and territory courts|Supreme Court of the relevant state or territory]]. Very few have been appointed as a notary for more than one state or territory.

Queensland, like [[New Zealand]], continues the practice of appointment by the Archbishop of Canterbury acting through the [[Master of the Faculties]].<ref>[http://www.abkj.com.au/notary-public-services.html Notary Public Services] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203004333/http://www.abkj.com.au/notary-public-services.html |date=3 December 2013 }} ABKJ Lawyers. Retrieved on 2013-11-15.</ref>

Australian notaries are lawyers and are members of the Australian and New Zealand College of Notaries, the Society of Notaries of New South Wales Inc., the Public Notaries Society of Western Australia Inc, and other state-based societies. The overall number of lawyers who choose to become a notary is relatively low. For example, in [[South Australia]] (a state with a population of 1.5 million), of the over 2,500 lawyers in that state only about 100 are also notaries and most of those do not actively practice as such. In [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], in 2002 there were only 66 notaries for a city with a population of 3.5 million and only 90 for the entire state. In [[Western Australia]], there are approximately 58 notaries as at 2017 for a city with a population of 2.07 million people. Compare this with the United States where it has been estimated that there are nearly 5 million notaries for a nation with a population of 296 million.

As Justice Debelle of the [[Supreme Court of South Australia]] said in the case of ''In The Matter of an Application by Marilyn Reys Bos to be a Public Notary'' [2003] SASC 320, delivered 12 September 2003,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/sa/SASC/2003/320.htm | title=  AN APPLICATION BY MARILYN REYES BOS TO BE A PUBLIC NOTARY No. SCCIV-02-1688 <nowiki>[</nowiki>2003<nowiki>]</nowiki> SASC 320 (12 September 2003) | publisher = Australasian Legal Information Institute | access-date =21 May 2011
}}</ref> in refusing the application by a non-lawyer for appointment as a notary:

{{blockquote|As a general rule, an applicant [for appointment as a notary] should be a legal practitioner of several years standing at least. Even a cursory perusal of texts on the duties and functions of a public notary demonstrates that a number of those functions and duties require at the very least a sound working knowledge of Australian law and commercial practice. In other words, the preparation of a notarial act plainly requires a sound knowledge of law and practice in Australia especially of the due preparation and execution of commercial and contractual instruments. It is essential that notaries in this state have a sufficient level of training, qualification and status to enable them efficiently and effectively to discharge the functions of the office.}}

Historically there have been some very rare examples of patent attorneys or accountants being appointed, but that now seems to have ceased.

However, there are three significant differences between notaries and other lawyers.

*the duty of a notary is to the transaction as a whole, and not just to one of the parties. In certain circumstances a notary may act for both parties to a transaction as long as there is no conflict between them, and in such cases it is their duty is to ensure that the transaction that they conclude is fair to both sides.
*a notary will often need to place and complete a special clause onto or attach a special page (known as an [[eschatocol]]) to a document in order to make it valid for use overseas.<br/>In the case of some documents which are to be used in some foreign countries it may also be necessary to obtain another certificate known either as an "authentication" or an "[[apostille]]" (see above) (depending on the relevant foreign country) from the [[Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)|Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade]].
*a notary identifies themselves on documents by the use of their individual seal. Such seals have historical origins and are regarded by most other countries as of great importance for establishing the authenticity of a document.

Their principal duties include:

# attestation of documents and certification of their due execution for use internationally
# preparation and certification of powers of attorney, wills, deeds, contracts and other legal documents for use internationally
# administering of oaths for use internationally
# witnessing affidavits, statutory declarations and other documents for use internationally
# certification of copy documents for use internationally
# exemplification of official documents for use internationally
# noting and protesting of bills of exchange (which is rarely performed)
# preparation of ships' protests
# providing certificates as to Australian law and legal practice for use internationally

It is usual for Australian notaries to use an embossed seal with a red wafer, and now some notaries also use an inked stamp replicating the seal. It is also common for the seal or stamp to include the notary's chosen logo or symbol.

In South Australia and [[Scotland]], it is acceptable for a notary to use the letters "NP" after their name. Thus a South Australian notary may have "John Smith LLB NP" or similar on his business card or letterhead.

Australian notaries do not hold "commissions" which can expire. Generally, once appointed they are authorized to act as a notary for life and can only be "struck off" the Roll of Notaries for proven misconduct.  In certain states, for example, New South Wales and Victoria, they cease to be qualified to continue as a notary once they cease to hold a practicing certificate as a legal practitioner. Even judges, who do not hold practicing certificates, are not eligible to continue to practice as notaries.

Notaries in some states of Australia are regulated by legislation.  In New South Wales the Public Notaries Act 1997 applies and in Victoria the Public Notaries Act 2001 applies.

There are also Notary Societies throughout Australia and the societies keep a searchable list of their members.  In New South Wales, The Society of Notaries of New South Wales Inc.; in Queensland The Society of Notaries Queensland Inc.; in South Australia the Notaries' Society of South Australia Inc. and in Victoria, The Society of Notaries of Victoria Inc..

Notaries collecting information for the purposes of verification of the signature of the deponent might retain the details of documents which identify the deponent, and this information is subject to the [[Privacy Act 1988]]. A notary must protect the personal information the notary holds from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

All Australian jurisdictions also have [[justice of the peace|justices of the peace]] (JP) or commissioners for affidavits and other unqualified persons who are qualified to take affidavits or statutory declarations and to certify documents. However they can only do so if the relevant affidavit, statutory declaration or copy document is to be used only in Australia and not in a foreign country, with the possible exception of a few Commonwealth countries not including the [[United Kingdom]] or New Zealand except for very limited purposes. Justices of the peace (JPs) are (usually) laypersons who have minimal, if any, training (depending on the jurisdiction) but are of proven good character. Therefore, a US notary resembles an Australian JP rather than an Australian notary.