Certifying Documents

The person who certifies your document/s must be contactable by telephone during normal working hours. This person may be:

• An authorised officer at:
  • any Student Centre of the University of Western Sydney
  • any other university or TAFE College
  • the official records department of the institution that originally issued the document/s
  • an Australian overseas diplomatic mission and Australian Educational Centres
  • the Universities Admissions Centre
• A Justice of the Peace with a registration number
• An accountant - must be a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, or the Australian Association of Taxation and Management Accountants or be a Registered Tax Agent
• A bank manager, but not a manager of a bank travel centre
• A credit union branch manager
• A commissioner for declarations
• A barrister, solicitor or patent attorney
• A police officer in charge of a police station, or of the rank of sergeant and above
• A postal manager
• A Principal of an Australian secondary college, high school or primary school

You or a family member cannot certify your documents, even if you or they belong to one of the categories listed above.

How should the authorised officer certify each document?

The Certifying Officer must print “I certify this to be a true copy of the document shown and reported to me as the original." on the document, as well as their name, address, contact telephone number, profession or occupation or organisation, the date and then sign the document.

The Certifying Officer should also include the official stamp or seal of the certifier’s organisation on the copy, if the organisation has such a stamp.

In addition to the above, a Justice of the Peace must also print their registration number and provide details of the state in which they are registered.

Copies certified by a Justice of the Peace without a registration number will NOT be accepted. To find a Justice of the Peace in your area, check the public register of JPs available online from the NSW Attorney-General's Department.

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