New ways to complete a Commonwealth statutory declaration
Amendments to the
Statutory Declarations Act 1959 (Cth) commenced as of 1 January 2024. These enable a Commonwealth statutory declaration to be validly made in one of three ways:
(a) traditionally, as a paper-based interaction requiring wet-ink signatures and in person witnessing;
(b) electronically, through the application of an electronic signature and witnessing via an audio-visual communication link; and
(c) digitally verified, through the use of the myGov platform which authenticates the declarant’s Digital Identity through myGovID.
The
new approved form should be used for the making of a Commonwealth statutory declaration that has been witnessed (either in-person, or remotely by video link).
