Membership

Who may be a Member?

Any notary holding office in Australia or New Zealand is eligible to be a member of the College.

Categories of Membership

There are two membership categories:

• ordinary members ("Members"); and
• fellows ("Fellows")

Please note, for the purpose of qualifying for admission to membership as a Fellow:

• "Recognised Academic Qualification" means the Graduate Diploma in Notarial Practice awarded by Victoria Univrsity, Melbourne ("Grad.Dip.NP") or a qualification awarded by a tertiary institution in Australia or elsewhere which, in the Board's reasonable opinion, is at least equivalent to the Grad.Dip.NP.
  
• "Approved Course of Study" means a course of study in notarial practice and theory for prospective fellows and associated examinations conducted by or on behalf of the College.

Ordinarily, only notaries who hold a Recognised Academic Qualification or who have held office for at least five years and have passed an Approved Course of Study may become Fellows of the College.

For a limited time, the qualifications to be a Fellow of the College have been relaxed.

Until 30 June 2009:

• if an applicant for membership does not hold a Recognised Academic Qualification, but has been a notary for at least five years, the applicant will become a Fellow of the College immediately upon joining; or
• if the applicant has not held office for at least five years and joins as a Member, he or she will automatically advance to the status of Fellow on completion of five years in office as a notary without having to hold a Recognised Academic Qualification or without having satisfactorily completed an Approved Course of Study.