As electronic conveyancing is becoming more common, and in an age of identity theft and fraud, the Queensland Government has recently introduced more stringent requirements for the witnessing of all Land Titles Office documents.
All witnesses must now:
- take reasonable steps to verify the identity (“VOI”) of the person signing;
- take reasonable steps to ensure the person signing is entitled to sign the document; and
- keep records of the steps they took or copies of the VOI documents for 7 years after witnessing.
To prove that you are entitled to sign the document, you must provide evidence that you are the owner of the land (e.g. title search, rates notice, land valuation notice or land tax assessment) or about to obtain the interest in the land (e.g. Contract of Sale, loan documents or a letter from a solicitor confirming that you are entitled to sign the document), as the case may be.
To satisfy the VOI requirements, you must provide the witness with the documents detailed in Category 1 of the below table in the first instance, and if you can’t do so, then provide the documents in Category 2 (and so on):
| Category | Minimum Document Requirements |
| For Persons who are Australian citizens or residents: | |
| 1 |
Australian Passport or foreign passport or Australian Evidence of Immigration Status ImmiCard or Australian Migration Status ImmiCard plus Australian drivers licence or Photo Card plus change of name or marriage certificate if necessary |
| 2 |
Australian Passport or foreign passport or Australian Evidence of Immigration Status ImmiCard or Australian Migration Status ImmiCard plus full birth certificate or citizenship certificate or descent certificate plus Medicare or Centrelink or Department of Veterans’ Affairs card plus change of name or marriage certificate if necessary |
| 3 |
Australian drivers licence or Photo Card plus full birth certificate or citizenship certificate or descent certificate plus Medicare or Centrelink or Department of Veterans’ Affairs card plus change of name or marriage certificate if necessary |
| 4 |
(a) Australian Passport or foreign passport or Australian Evidence of Immigration Status ImmiCard or Australian Migration Status ImmiCard plus another form of government issued photographic identity Document plus change of name or marriage certificate if necessary (b) Australian Passport or foreign passport or Australian Evidence of Immigration Status ImmiCard or Australian Migration Status ImmiCard plus full birth certificate plus another form of government issued identity Document plus change of name or marriage certificate if necessary |
| 5 |
(a) Identifier Declaration plus full birth certificate or citizenship certificate or descent certificate plus Medicare or Centrelink or Department of Veterans’ Affairs card plus change of name or marriage certificate if necessary. (b) Identifier Declaration by a Person specified in Verification of Identity Standard paragraph 4.4(e)* plus Medicare or Centrelink or Department of Veterans’ Affairs card plus change of name or marriage certificate if necessary. Note: Refer to Verification of Identity Standard paragraph 4 (Declaration of Identifier below) |
| For Persons who are not Australian citizens or residents: | |
| 6 |
(a) Foreign passport plus another form of government issued photographic identity Document plus change of name or marriage certificate if necessary (b) Foreign passport plus full birth certificate plus another form of government issued identity Document plus change of name or marriage certificate if necessary. |
Note that all documents provided as part of the VOI process must be:
- original;
- current (except that a passport can have expired in the 2 years before the witnessing date); and
- issued by the relevant Registry (e.g. Certificates issued by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages rather than ceremonial certificates issued by the church or celebrant).
So long as you have a current Passport and driver’s licence you will be able to meet the Category 1 requirements. It can however become more complicated and time consuming if you don’t have both of these. Instead, you will need to provide a Medicare, Centrelink or Department of Veterans’ Affairs card and a full birth certificate (or citizenship certificate).
If you have changed your name, you also need to provide evidence of the change of name – e.g. a standard Marriage Certificate, Deed Poll or Change of Name Certificate.
If you don’t have a full birth certificate or standard marriage certificate, you may need to apply to the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages to obtain one. This can take some time – 5 business days from receipt of the correct application for a standard application ($49.50 at the time of writing) and 2 business days for an urgent application ($78.85 at the time of writing) for the Queensland Registry (noting the timeframes and costs may vary from state to state).
If you need to apply for a birth, marriage or change of name certificate, it is important that you do so as soon as possible where they are needed for witnessing in transactions that are time sensitive – e.g. signing a Transfer for a sale or a Mortgage for a purchase. In the case of Sale and Purchase Contracts, if you can’t provide the required identification to sign the required document before settlement, you may need to ask for an extension of the settlement date, which the other party would need to agree to and may involve interest being charged, or, if the other party won’t agree to the extension, may result in the other party terminating the Contract due to your default and suing you for damages.
We would therefore recommend that you investigate whether you currently hold the required identification documents and if not, apply for any necessary certificates, so that there won’t be any issues with witnessing needed.