Speeches
Friday, 10 October 2025
The Australian and New Zealand Conference of Notaries
I am pleased to join you for the formal opening of the Australian and New Zealand College of Notaries' biennial conference.
This is the first time the conference has come to Adelaide, and I welcome those of you who have travelled from interstate or overseas to be here.
I trust you will all enjoy the best of our city at this time of year.
A long career in diplomacy brought me into contact with notaries and led me to develop a deep appreciation for your roles.
As a young diplomat in Hong Kong in the late 1980s, times were very different to today.
Everything was done on paper and the challenges we face in 2025, with digital identity, were yet to emerge.
Years later, as Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, I oversaw the full breadth of the department's operations, including the Passport Office, and came to understand more deeply how identity verification sits at the heart of international mobility.
The big challenge of our age is identity and how to prove it.
Notaries public play a vital role in enabling Australians to live, work, study and conduct business internationally, providing the authentication and verification services that underpin cross-border transactions and personal endeavours.
I thank you for your work facilitating international trade, supporting Australian businesses expanding overseas, and helping families navigate complex legal requirements across jurisdictions.
This year’s conference theme, "Navigating Challenges in Notarial Practice", reflects the evolving environment in which you work.
I know you are engaging with pressing contemporary issues.
These include ethical traps and pitfalls, the emergence of e-notarisation and e-Apostilles, the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence, the complexities of authenticating documents for Commonwealth jurisdictions - to name just a few.
These topics highlight some of the greatest demands on your profession: the need to remain agile and responsive to technological change, while at the same time, maintaining the integrity and trustworthiness that have defined notarial practice for centuries.
I am also intrigued by the session titled “Notaries and Lawyers in Shakespeare”, which no doubt will promote some interesting discussion!
Friends,
I thank the College for bringing this conference to Adelaide and for your commitment to maintaining the highest standards of notarial practice throughout Australasia.
I wish you a productive and enjoyable conference, and I commend your continued dedicated service to the people of Australia and New Zealand.
May your work continue to forge connections, facilitate commerce, and build the trusted frameworks that enable people to pursue their aspirations across borders and around the world.