The Act is organised around a small number of core legal constructs. Explaining them in statutory terms clarifies where discretion sits and what is mandatory.

• Admission Board. Defined in s 3 as the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board constituted under the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014. The Board is given express functions under this Act (s 4(1)) and may consult the Society of Notaries in exercising those functions (s 4(2)). The Board may make rules covering qualifications, examinations, approvals, applications, record keeping and fees, and those rules must be published in the Gazette and are subject to the Interpretation Act’s notice and disallowance mechanisms (s 9; s 9A).

• Court. The Act defines Court as the Supreme Court of New South Wales (s 3). The Court hears applications for appointment on days it appoints (s 6(2)), appoints and enrols public notaries (s 6(1)) and may remove names from the roll for misconduct, incompetence or other reasons (s 6(3)). The Court’s removal power is not limited to the specific definition of misconduct; rather the Court may remove a name for "any other reason the Court considers warrants removal" (s 6(3)).

• Roll and Registrar. The Admission Board designates an officer as registrar to establish and maintain the roll of public notaries (s 7(1)). The registrar must enter the name of each person appointed as a notary and specified particulars set out in s 7(2). The registrar may remove a name at the notary’s request (s 7(3)) and must remove the name if the notary ceases to be a legal practitioner (s 7(4)). Removal can also follow Court or NCAT orders (s 7(5)).

• Eligibility and appointment. A person must be a barrister or solicitor with at least five years’ standing (s 5). Admission Board approval of a candidate precedes the Court hearing and determination of the application (s 6(2)).

• Regulation of practice. The Act imposes a sectoral restriction on employed notaries, prohibiting them from carrying out notarial work for their employer or the employer’s clients unless the employer is a law practice or the circumstances are prescribed by regulation (s 11). The Society may publish indicative fees (s 12) but the Act stops short of statutory fee-setting.

• Discipline and overlap with legal profession regulation. Chapters 5 and 7 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) apply to public notaries as to Australian lawyers, subject to regulation modification (s 14(1)). Section 14(2) makes explicit that NCAT’s jurisdiction to make orders under the Uniform Law includes orders removing a name from the roll.

• Offences, enforcement forum and regulations. Advertising or holding out as a notary while not on the roll and practising while not being a barrister or solicitor are penalised (s 13). Proceedings are to be brought in the Local Court (s 15). The Governor may make regulations, including creating offences up to 5 penalty units (s 16).

• Transitional and savings rules. The Act carries through existing appointments, the previous roll and pending applications from the repealed 1985 Act, and contains savings for acts done under the old Act (Sch 1 cl 3-5, cl 8). There are also specific transitional arrangements about complaints arising from conduct before certain amendments to the legal profession framework (Sch 1 cl 9).

These concepts allocate administrative, judicial and regulatory roles across institutions and anchor notarial status to legal-practitioner standing. The Act provides rule-making and regulatory hooks (s 9; s 16) that Parliament or the Governor can use to add procedural detail or carve exceptions into the statutory scheme.

The Act creates a defined set of stakeholders and allocates rights and duties among them. The primary groups are the following.

• Applicants for appointment as public notaries. To be eligible an applicant must be a barrister or solicitor of at least five years’ standing (s 5). Applicants must obtain the Admission Board’s approval before the Court will hear and determine the application (s 6(2)). Applicants refused by the Admission Board have a statutory right of appeal to the Court by rehearing (s 10).

• Appointed public notaries. Once appointed and enrolled by the Court, notaries are recorded on the roll maintained by the registrar (s 6(1); s 7(1)-(2)). Being on the roll confers the entitlement to hold out as a public notary; advertising or practising while not on the roll is an offence (s 13(1)). Appointed notaries are subject to regulatory and disciplinary regimes applicable to Australian lawyers through the application of Chapters 5 and 7 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) (s 14(1)).

• Employers, law practices and corporate groups. The Act restricts employed notaries from carrying out notarial work for their employer or the employer’s clients unless employed by a law practice as defined under the repealed Legal Profession Act 2004 framework or a person/circumstance prescribed by regulation (s 11(1)-(2)). The definition of corporation includes related bodies corporate and uses the Corporations Act 2001 meanings where a notary is employed by a corporation (s 11(3)). Employers who are not law practices must be attentive to the prohibition and any regulations creating exceptions.

• The Admission Board and its registrar. The Admission Board decides approvals, makes rules, sets examinations and keeps records under the Act (s 4; s 9; s 7). It designates an officer as registrar who must establish and maintain the roll and make prescribed entries (s 7(1)-(2)). The Admission Board also has discretion to publish roll information (s 8).

• The Supreme Court. The Court exercises appointment and removal powers and hears appeals from Admission Board refusals (s 6; s 10). A judge who was on the Admission Board when the decision was made is disqualified from hearing that appeal (s 10(3)).

• Regulatory and disciplinary bodies. NCAT (the Civil and Administrative Tribunal) and the disciplinary architecture under the Legal Profession Uniform Law apply to notaries. The Act expressly allows NCAT to make orders including removing a name from the roll (s 7(5)(b); s 14(2)).

• The Society of Notaries. The Society is given a role to prepare and publish an indicative scale of notarial fees in the Gazette as guidance on fair and reasonable fees (s 12). The Act also contemplates the Admission Board consulting the Society (s 4(2)).

• Clients and members of the public. The public are affected by the publication powers of the Admission Board, the limitation on who may hold themselves out as a notary, and the disciplinary overlay that ties notarial conduct to legal-profession standards (s 8; s 13; s 14).

• The Executive and Parliament. The Governor may make regulations including offences with small penalties (s 16). The Minister must review the Act within five years of assent and table a report (s 21).

Who pays and who decides. Financially, applicants and clients bear fees: the Admission Board may prescribe fees for examinations and appointment certificates (s 9(f)). The Society’s indicative scale affects what practitioners and clients consider reasonable (s 12), but the Act does not establish statutory fee schedules beyond the Board’s power to set fees. Decision-making authority is concentrated in the Admission Board for approvals and rules (s 4; s 9), the Supreme Court for appointment and removal (s 6), the registrar for maintenance of the roll (s 7), NCAT for disciplinary orders via the Uniform Law framework (s 14(2)), and the Governor for regulations (s 16).

This section summarises statutory duties imposed and rights conferred by the Act, with direct pointers to the enabling provisions.

Duties imposed on institutions and officers

• Admission Board duties. The Board “has and may exercise the functions conferred or imposed on it by or under this Act” (s 4(1)). It must make rules covering qualifications, examinations, approvals, applications, record keeping and fees (s 9). Rules made under s 9 must be published in the Gazette and are subject to statutory notice and disallowance provisions (s 9A(1)-(2)).

• Registrar duties. The registrar is to establish and maintain the roll and enter specified particulars: the name of each appointed public notary, the notary’s firm name and practice address, and other prescribed particulars (s 7(1)-(2)). The registrar must remove a name where the notary ceases to be a legal practitioner (s 7(4)) and must remove names in accordance with Court or NCAT orders (s 7(5)).

• Court duties. The Supreme Court must hear applications for appointment on days it appoints, determine the applications of candidates approved by the Admission Board and has power to order removal of names for misconduct, incompetence or other reasons (s 6(1)-(3)).

• Governor and Minister duties. The Governor may make regulations to carry the Act into effect and may create offences with penalties up to 5 penalty units (s 16). The Minister must undertake a statutory review of the Act as soon as practicable after five years from assent and table a report in each House of Parliament within 12 months after the end of that five year period (s 21(1)-(3)).

Duties and prohibitions on individual notaries

• Employed-notary prohibition. A public notary who is employed must not carry out notarial work for the notary’s employer or the employer’s clients, except where the notary is employed by a law practice as defined under the Legal Profession Act 2004 or as prescribed by regulation (s 11(1)-(2)). For corporate employments, the definition includes related bodies corporate under the Corporations Act 2001 (s 11(3)).

• Maintenance of legal-practitioner status. The registrar must remove a public notary’s name from the roll if the person ceases to be a legal practitioner (s 7(4)). Practising as a public notary while not being a barrister or solicitor is an offence with a maximum penalty of 10 penalty units (s 13(2)).

Rights conferred on individuals

• Right to apply for appointment. Qualified candidates approved by the Admission Board have a right to be heard by the Court for appointment as a public notary (s 6(2)).

• Right of appeal. A person refused approval by the Admission Board may appeal to the Supreme Court by way of rehearing and may adduce fresh or additional evidence; a judge who sat on the Admission Board decision is disqualified from hearing that appeal (s 10(1)-(4)).

• Right to removal at request. A notary may request the registrar to remove the person’s name from the roll and the registrar may comply (s 7(3)).

• Publication and information rights. The Admission Board may publish names, firms and practice addresses in circumstances it considers appropriate (s 8). This gives the public access to registrar-maintained particulars where the Board elects to publish.

Procedural and disciplinary overlay

• Application of the Legal Profession Uniform Law. Chapters 5 and 7 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) apply to public notaries in the same way as to Australian lawyers, subject to regulation modifications (s 14(1)). This attaches the Uniform Law’s dispute resolution and professional discipline architecture to notaries. NCAT’s orders under the Uniform Law include power to remove names from the roll (s 14(2)).

• Offences and forum. Advertising or holding out as a notary while not on the roll, or practising while not a barrister or solicitor, each attract criminal penalties of up to 10 penalty units (s 13), and proceedings for offences under the Act are to be taken in the Local Court (s 15).

Taken together, the duties and rights set out a gatekeeper model where administrative approval, judicial appointment and disciplinary oversight intersect. The Act ties notarial entitlement to the ongoing status of being an Australian legal practitioner and folds notaries into the broader legal-profession regulatory regime.

The Act defines several criminal offences, sets the forum for prosecution and integrates the notary regime into the legal-profession discipline architecture.

Criminal offences in the Act

• Unauthorised advertising or holding out. A person not named on the roll who advertises or holds out that they are entitled, qualified, able or willing to practise as a public notary is guilty of an offence, punishable by a maximum of 10 penalty units (s 13(1)). This targets representation to the public and creates a strict link between being on the roll and advertising as a notary.

• Practising while not a barrister or solicitor. A person named on the roll who, while not being a barrister or solicitor, practises as a public notary is guilty of an offence, punishable by a maximum of 10 penalty units (s 13(2)). This creates a continuing obligation to maintain legal-practitioner status and attaches criminal liability to continuing practice while disqualified by loss of that status.

• Regulatory offences. The Governor may make regulations under s 16 and the regulations may create offences punishable by up to 5 penalty units (s 16(2)). The Act therefore permits a secondary level of lower-penalty offences to be created by regulation for matters necessary or convenient to carry the Act into effect.

Enforcement forum and procedures

• Local Court jurisdiction. Proceedings for an offence against this Act or the regulations are to be taken before the Local Court (s 15). This fixes the prosecutorial forum for criminal breaches.

• Removal from the roll. The Supreme Court may order removal of a person’s name from the roll for misconduct as a public notary, incompetence or any other reason the Court considers warrants removal (s 6(3)). Misconduct expressly includes conduct that would, if done as an Australian legal practitioner, be unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct under Chapter 4 of the Legal Profession Act 2004 (s 6(4)). The registrar must also remove a name pursuant to an order of the Court or an order of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (s 7(5)(a)-(b)).

• Disciplinary regimes via the Legal Profession Uniform Law. Chapters 5 and 7 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) apply to public notaries in the same way as to Australian lawyers, subject to any regulatory modifications (s 14(1)). Section 14(2) explicitly recognises NCAT’s power to make orders including removing a name from the roll. The Act therefore channels complaints, dispute resolution and disciplinary processes for notaries into the Uniform Law framework.

Practical enforcement consequences

• Two-tiered sanctioning. The Act contemplates both criminal sanctions for misrepresentation or wrongful practice (s 13) and administrative/disciplinary sanctions that can remove professional status and hence the ability to hold out as a notary (s 6(3); s 7(5); s 14). This means enforcement can produce both pecuniary penalties and loss of entitlement.

• Ongoing qualifier risk. Because practicing as a notary requires maintaining legal-practitioner status and the registrar must remove a name if the person ceases to be a legal practitioner (s 7(4)), there is an administrative trigger that may convert into an offence if the notary continues to practise after ceasing to be a barrister or solicitor (s 13(2)).

• Regulatory scope. The Governor’s power to make regulations including creating offences of up to 5 penalty units (s 16) gives the executive the ability to create enforcement points beneath the primary criminal sanctions in s 13.

The Act therefore provides for enforcement by criminal prosecution in the Local Court, administrative removal by Court or NCAT orders, and a complementary regulatory enforcement layer under delegated legislation.

The Act embeds notaries within existing legal profession and corporate regimes, and provides interpretative savings for instruments that reference notaries.

Links to the Legal Profession Uniform Law and related Acts

• Admission Board and Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014. The Admission Board is defined by reference to the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014, and the Board’s constitution and institutional setting are therefore part of the Uniform Law framework (s 3 definition of Admission Board). This ties the admission functions for notaries into the broader legal profession regulatory architecture.

• Misconduct definition and Legal Profession Act 2004. Misconduct as a public notary includes conduct that, had it been done as an Australian legal practitioner, would be or be capable of being unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct under Chapter 4 of the Legal Profession Act 2004 (s 6(4)). The Act therefore imports definitional content from the Legal Profession Act 2004 for the purpose of assessing notary misconduct.

• Application of Chapters 5 and 7 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW). Section 14(1) states that those Chapters apply to public notaries in the same way as they apply to Australian lawyers, subject to modifications made by regulation. This imports the Uniform Law’s dispute resolution and disciplinary machinery, including complaint handling, investigation and adjudication processes, unless the regulations prescribe otherwise.

• NCAT and disciplinary orders. The Act explicitly recognises NCAT’s power to make orders under s 302 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law, including orders removing a name from the roll (s 14(2); s 7(5)(b)).

Corporations and employment

• Corporations Act meanings. For the purpose of s 11, if a public notary is employed by a corporation, the terms corporation and related body corporate have the same meanings as in the Corporations Act 2001 (s 11(3)). That reference imports the Corporations Act conceptual schema when determining applicable employer-corporate relationships and related-body-corporate consequences for the employed-notary prohibition.

Interaction with statutory rule-making and parliamentary oversight

• Publication and disallowance of Admission Board rules. Rules made under s 9 must be published in the Gazette and are subject to ss 40 and 41 of the Interpretation Act 1987, meaning notice to Parliament and disallowance processes apply (s 9A(1)-(2)). This subjects Admission Board rules to parliamentary oversight.

• Regulations and offences. The Governor’s regulation-making power under s 16 must be exercised consistently with the Act. Regulations may create offences with maximum penalties up to 5 penalty units (s 16(2)), which is a lower-tier criminal sanction than the 10 penalty units attached to primary offences in s 13.

Transitional and savings consequences for other instruments

• Continuity of external references. Schedule 1 contains multiple interpretative savings. A reference in any other Act, law or instrument to a notary public or public notary is to be read as a reference to a person whose name is on the roll insofar as it relates to performance of notarial work in the State (Sch 1 cl 6). References to the repealed 1985 Act are to be read as references to this Act unless the matter continues to be dealt with by the repealed Act (Sch 1 cl 7). The Roll maintained under the repealed Act continues as the roll under this Act (Sch 1 cl 5).

• Transitional complaint provisions. Schedule 1 cl 9 allows complaints about conduct that occurred prior to the commencement of transitional provisions to be made and dealt with under this Act and the Legal Profession Act 2004, subject to a limitation that disciplinary outcomes cannot be more onerous than those available under the older Legal Profession Act 1987 (Sch 1 cl 9(1)-(4)). This clause governs cross-temporal complaints resulting from legal-profession amendments.

In short, the Act does not operate in isolation. It imports norms and procedures from the Legal Profession Uniform Law framework, the Legal Profession Act 2004 for disciplinary definitions, the Corporations Act for corporate definitions, and the Interpretation Act for parliamentary oversight of rules. The Schedule 1 savings ensure continuity across the repeal of the earlier 1985 Act.

The Act text contains in-line amendment annotations. The amendments and insertions recorded in the source document show a number of legislative updates. The following lists the statutory provisions that the source marks as amended or inserted and the year citations included in the margin notes.

• Section 3 (definitions). Margin notes indicate amendments in 1998 No 120, Sch 1.36 [1]; 2005 No 46, Sch 10 [1]-[3]; and 2014 No 16, Sch 10.2 [1] [2]. These entries show successive changes to definitions across those years.

• Section 3A (Notes). Inserted by 1999 No 31, Sch 2.33. This clause clarifies that notes included in the Act are explanatory and do not form part of the Act.

• Section 4 (Functions of Admission Board). No specific amendment note appears in the current text besides its inclusion.

• Section 6 (Appointment of public notaries). Amended in 2005 No 46, Sch 10 [4]; this amendment is reflected in the addition of s 6(4) which defines misconduct to include conduct that would be unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct under the Legal Profession Act 2004.

• Section 7 (Roll of public notaries). Amended by 2005 No 46, Sch 10 [5]-[7]; 2013 No 95, Sch 2.123; and 2014 No 16, Sch 10.2 [3]. These annotations indicate progressive changes to roll maintenance provisions.

• Section 8 (Publication of information on roll). Substituted in 2005 No 46, Sch 10 [8]. The current wording granting the Admission Board a publication power reflects that substitution.

• Section 9 (Rules for public notaries). Amended by 2000 No 73, Sch 3.1 [1]; and 2005 No 46, Sch 10 [9]. These amendments related to the scope of rule-making.

• Section 9A (Provisions applying to admission rules). Inserted in 1998 No 120, Sch 1.36 [2] and substituted in 2009 No 56, Sch 4.56, implementing Gazette publication and Interpretation Act application to rules.

• Section 11 (Employed public notaries). Amended by 2000 No 73, Sch 3.1 [2]; 2001 No 34, Sch 4.50; and 2005 No 46, Sch 10 [10], altering the employed-notary prohibition and its exceptions.

• Section 12 (Fees for notarial work). No amendment notes in the text.

• Section 14 (Application of Legal Profession Uniform Law regarding dispute resolution and professional discipline). Amended in 2005 No 46, Sch 10 [11] and substituted in 2014 No 16, Sch 10.2 [4], reflecting changes in the Uniform Law framework.

• Section 15 (Proceedings for offences). Amended by 2007 No 94, Sch 4.

• Section 18 (Savings, transitional and other provisions). Amendment annotations include 2005 No 46, Sch 10 [12]-[14]; and 2014 No 16, Sch 10.2 [5].

• Schedule 1. The schedule carries amendment annotations: Am 2005 No 46, Sch 10 [12]-[14]; 2014 No 16, Sch 10.2 [5].

• Other repeals. Sections 19 and 20 are noted as repealed in 1999 No 85, Sch 4 and 2003 No 82, Sch 3 respectively. Schedule 2 is marked as repealed by 1999 No 85, Sch 4.

• Repeal of the earlier Act. Section 17 records that the Public Notaries Act 1985 No 6 is repealed, with Schedule 1 providing transitional and savings provisions.

These margin annotations identify the statutory history visible within the source text. They show that the Act has been adjusted to align with changes in the legal profession regulatory framework, notably the move to the Uniform Law, and to refine procedural and publication arrangements. The schedule amendments preserved continuity with the prior Act through savings and transitional clauses.

The Act text supplied does not record or cite any judicial decisions applying or construing its provisions. There are no cases named in the statute text or in its schedules.

What the statute does supply in procedural terms is a statutory pathway for litigation and review:

• Appeals against Admission Board refusals are to the Supreme Court by rehearing, allowing fresh or additional evidence, and include a judge-disqualification provision where the judge was on the Admission Board for the relevant decision (s 10(1)-(4)). The Court may make such order as it thinks fit on appeal (s 10(4)). This establishes the judicial review channel for disputed approvals.

• Removal and disciplinary matters can be the subject of Court orders under the Act (s 6(3)) and NCAT orders under the Legal Profession Uniform Law are explicitly incorporated, including NCAT’s power to order removal of a name (s 7(5)(b); s 14(2)). This provides for both judicial and tribunal-based mechanisms for addressing alleged misconduct.

• Criminal enforcement actions for specified offences are to be taken before the Local Court (s 15). This is the forum for prosecutions under the Act or regulations for the specified offences.

Because the source contains no reported decisions, the statute’s practical litigation contours , including lines of appeal, grounds on which the Court intervenes in Admission Board decisions, or how the Uniform Law’s Chapters 5 and 7 have been applied to notaries in practice , are not recorded here. The Act’s procedural provisions indicate routes to adjudication: appeals to the Supreme Court, disciplinary orders by NCAT, and criminal prosecutions in the Local Court.

Readers seeking case law applying these provisions will need to search judicial and tribunal databases; the Act itself supplies only the institutional routes and jurisdictional allocation, not outcomes or jurisprudence.

The Act contains several specific provisions that give rise to practical traps for applicants, employers and practising notaries. These are concrete compliance, operational and interpretative points drawn directly from the statute.

• Eligibility is strictly defined and prior practice counts. A candidate must be a barrister or solicitor of not less than five years’ standing (s 5). The Act does not provide lower or alternative pathways; the Admission Board’s rules may set examination or other qualification details (s 9), but the five‑year standing rule is statutory.

• Court appointment follows Admission Board approval. Admission Board approval is a precondition to the Court hearing an application (s 6(2)). An applicant refused by the Board has an appeal to the Court by rehearing (s 10), but in practice the statutory sequence means the Admission Board is the gatekeeper to the Court process.

• Employed-notary restriction is broad and tied to employer type. A public notary who is employed must not carry out notarial work for the employer or the employer’s client, except when the notary is employed by a law practice within the meaning of the Legal Profession Act 2004 or where regulations prescribe otherwise (s 11(1)-(2)). The Act also imports the Corporations Act meaning of related body corporate where the employer is a corporation (s 11(3)). This can affect corporate counsel or notaries employed by corporate entities: unless the employer is a law practice or regulations create an exception, notarial work for employer or employer’s clients is prohibited.

• Continuing legal-practitioner status is a live licence condition. If a notary ceases to be a legal practitioner, the registrar must remove the name from the roll (s 7(4)). Practising as a public notary while not being a barrister or solicitor is an offence with a 10-penalty-unit maximum (s 13(2)). The combination means loss of legal-practitioner status immediately exposes the notary to both administrative removal and potential criminal exposure if practice continues.

• Publishing versus mandatory disclosure. The Admission Board may publish roll details in circumstances it considers appropriate (s 8). The Act does not require publication in all cases, so public visibility of a notary’s status may vary depending on Admission Board practice.

• Admission Board rules are subject to Parliamentary disallowance. Rules under s 9 must be published in the Gazette and are subject to ss 40 and 41 of the Interpretation Act 1987 (s 9A). This exposes rule-making to parliamentary oversight and potential disallowance, which can affect the stability of requirements such as examinations or fees that applicants rely upon.

• Indicative fees are not binding. The Society of Notaries may prepare and publish a scale of indicative fees as a guide to fair and reasonable fees (s 12). The word "indicative" signals guidance rather than statutory fee-setting. Practitioners should not assume the Gazette-published scale is mandatory; the Act offers it as guidance.

• Dual enforcement tracks. The Act provides both criminal sanctions (s 13) and administrative/disciplinary sanctions via the Uniform Law (s 14). A single course of conduct could therefore trigger separate processes with different consequences, for example a disciplinary removal under NCAT as well as separate criminal charges for advertising while not on the roll.

• Regulations can add low-penalty offences. The Governor may make regulations with offences punishable by up to 5 penalty units (s 16). These delegated offences can extend criminal liability to procedural or administrative breaches without the higher penalties of s 13, so practitioners must watch for regulatory additions.

• Transitional protections can limit disciplinary severity for prior conduct. Schedule 1 cl 9 allows complaints about pre-commencement conduct to be dealt with under the Act and the Legal Profession Act 2004 but limits disciplinary determinations so that they are not more onerous than what could have been made under the earlier Legal Profession Act 1987 (Sch 1 cl 9(4)). This creates a temporal cap on sanctions for legacy conduct.

• Appeal rehearing can involve fresh evidence but potential conflict. An appeal from Admission Board refusal is by way of rehearing and permits fresh evidence (s 10(2)). However, a judge who was a member of the Admission Board when the decision was made is disqualified from hearing the appeal (s 10(3)), necessitating case allocation considerations.

These are statutory "gotchas" that flow directly from the text. They represent compliance traps where mistaken assumptions about who may perform notarial work, the consequences of losing legal-practitioner status, or the binding nature of published fee guidance can have immediate legal consequences.

This section sets out practical, statute-grounded steps for the main actors to align behaviour with the Act’s requirements. Each step points to the relevant statutory source.

For applicants seeking appointment as a public notary

1. Confirm eligibility. Ensure you are a barrister or solicitor of not less than five years’ standing before applying (s 5). The statutory eligibility criterion is non‑delegable.

2. Consult Admission Board rules and Gazette. The Admission Board makes rules about qualifications, examinations, application procedures and fees (s 9). Those rules are published in the Gazette and subject to Interpretation Act notice and disallowance procedures (s 9A). Check the Gazette and the Admission Board’s published materials for current requirements before lodging an application.

3. Obtain Admission Board approval before Court application. The Court will only hear applications of persons approved by the Admission Board as suitable candidates (s 6(2)). Ensure the Board has approved your candidacy before arranging a Court hearing.

4. Prepare for possible examination and fees. The Board may require examinations in branches of knowledge it thinks fit and may charge fees for examinations and certificates (s 9(b), s 9(f)). Budget for these fees and prepare for any prescribed exams.

5. Be aware of appeal rights. If the Admission Board refuses approval, you have a right to appeal to the Supreme Court by way of rehearing and you may adduce fresh evidence (s 10(1)-(2)). Note the disqualification rule: a judge who was a Board member for the decision is disqualified from hearing the appeal (s 10(3)).

For practising public notaries

1. Maintain legal-practitioner status. The registrar must remove your name from the roll if you cease to be a legal practitioner (s 7(4)), and practising while not a barrister or solicitor is an offence (s 13(2)). Keep professional practice endorsements current and ceasing practice should trigger voluntary removal to avoid liability (s 7(3)).

2. Employed-notary constraints. If you are employed, do not carry out notarial work for your employer or your employer’s clients unless your employer is a law practice as defined in the relevant legal-profession statute or regulations prescribe otherwise (s 11(1)-(2)). If you work for a corporation, confirm whether related body corporate rules under the Corporations Act apply to your employment (s 11(3)).

3. Advertising and holding out. Only hold yourself out as a public notary if you are on the roll. Advertising as a notary while not on the roll is a criminal offence (s 13(1)). If you have any doubt about publication of your status, check with the registrar and the Admission Board regarding published details (s 7; s 8).

4. Fees and client communication. The Society of Notaries may publish an indicative scale of fees in the Gazette (s 12). Use that scale as guidance on what is considered fair and reasonable but do not treat it as a statutory fee schedule. Ensure clear client communication on fees and retain records as may be required by Admission Board rules (s 9(e)).

5. Disciplinary compliance. Understand that Chapters 5 and 7 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law apply to notaries as they do to Australian lawyers (s 14(1)). Be familiar with complaint-handling, investigation and NCAT processes under the Uniform Law. NCAT can order removal from the roll under those provisions and the registrar must give effect to such orders (s 7(5)(b); s 14(2)).

For employers and in-house counsel

1. Review employment arrangements. If you employ a notary, check whether your entity is a law practice under the Legal Profession Act or whether regulations provide an exception to s 11. If not, an employed notary should not perform notarial work for the employer or clients (s 11).

2. Corporate group implications. When a notary is employed by a corporation, related body corporate definitions apply (s 11(3)). Determine intra-group boundaries for permitted work.

3. Compliance oversight. Put processes in place to ensure notaries employed by the organisation do not hold out or practise in contravention of s 11 or s 13.

For the Admission Board, registrar and Society

1. Publish rules and registers properly. Rules under s 9 must be published in the Gazette and are subject to the Interpretation Act notifications and disallowance process (s 9A). Maintain the roll with mandated entries (s 7(2)) and publish roll information as appropriate under s 8.

2. Set transparent fees and examinations. If the Board requires examinations or fees, set them out clearly in rules and publish them so applicants can budget and prepare (s 9(b), s 9(f)).

3. Consult the Society where relevant. The Board may consult the Society of Notaries on functions under the Act (s 4(2)). Collaboration can help align guidance and practice standards.

For regulators and Ministers

1. Use regulations with care. The Governor may make regulations necessary to give effect to the Act and may create offences up to 5 penalty units (s 16). Ensure any regulatory offences are proportionate and that stakeholders are notified via Gazette publication consistent with s 9A mechanisms where rules are engaged.

2. Undertake the five-year review. The Minister must review the Act as soon as possible after five years from assent and table a report within 12 months thereafter (s 21). Plan the review and stakeholder consultation accordingly.

General compliance housekeeping

• Monitor Gazette notices. Both Admission Board rules and Society indicative fees are published in the Gazette (s 9A; s 12). Regularly review Gazette publications to capture changes.

• Keep records. Admission Board rules may prescribe record-keeping for notaries (s 9(e)). Implement and retain records that meet any published rule requirements.

• Prepare for dual enforcement risk. Understand that conduct can attract both disciplinary action under the Uniform Law and criminal prosecution under the Act or regulations (s 14; s 13; s 16).

Following these statutory steps will reduce the risk of administrative removal, criminal liability or disciplinary sanctions. The Act concentrates procedural detail in Admission Board rules and regulations, so continuous monitoring of Gazette publications and Admission Board materials is essential.