Find a JP

You can find a JP by visiting one of the JP Signing Centres or searching the JP Register for a JP near you.

Visit a Signing Centre

Find a Signing Centre near you [PDF List].

No appointment needed – there’s a JP waiting to help you.

Note:  if you arrive near closing time at any Signing Centre with a large number of documents or a complicated matter, you may need to arrange another mutually convenient time to meet with the JP.


Search for a nearby JP

Search the JP Register for a JP located near to you using the Access Canberra website

Search the Register [EXTERNAL LINK]

Call Access Canberra

Staff at the Access Canberra Contact Centre (Phone 13 22 81) can help you locate a JP

Contact Centre hours:

Monday to Friday
8.00 am to 6.00 pm

Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays
9.00 am to 5.00 pm

Notary Public

If your document is going overseas you may need a Notary Public.  A Notary Public is a senior legal practitioner, appointed by the ACT Supreme Court.

View the Register of Notaries Public in the ACT [EXTERNAL SITE]

What does a Justice of Peace in the ACT do?

ACT Justices of the Peace deal with administrative matters such as:

  • administering oaths or affirmations and witnessing statutory declarations and affidavits
  • witnessing signatures; and
  • attesting and certifying documents.

A JP can help you if you need a document certified as a true copy or wish to make a statutory declaration or witness a signature.  A JP can witness most official documents such as an affidavit, Power of Attorney, Enduring Power of Attorney, a will, declarations that the client is still alive or other documents that authorise a Justice of the Peace to provide a service.

Read more in our brief on What does a JP do?

What does a Justice of Peace in the ACT not do?

A Justice of the Peace DOES NOT preside in the courts in a judicial role in.

A Justice of the Peace DOES NOT have authority to act as a marriage celebrant, unless specifically licensed to do so.

A Justice of the Peace DOES NOT provide legal advice.

A Justice of the Peace DOES NOT charge for services and cannot accept payment, reward or any form of compensation or gift for providing a service as a Justice of the Peace.

Want to know more?

If you would like to know more about the role of Justices of the Peace in the ACT, see the Justices of the Peace (Role) Guideline 2016 (Disallowable instrument D12016-53 under ACT legislation).

You can read a little more of the story of Justices of the Peace here – A short history of Justices of the Peace