NSW statutory declaration: form, witnesses and the 2024 ID rules

NSW has one of the narrowest witness lists in the country. Professionals who can witness a Commonwealth declaration, such as pharmacists, nurses and accountants, cannot witness a NSW one. If you have been told a pharmacist will do, check which declaration you are actually making.

NSW also issues its statutory declaration in two versions, the Eighth Schedule and the Ninth Schedule form. Service NSW publishes both, and the body asking for your declaration will normally tell you which it wants.

Checked 14 August 2026. We re-check this page every six months, and sooner if a witness list changes.

The official form

We link the form rather than hosting a copy. Forms get amended, and an old one can be refused after you have filled it in and had it witnessed. Take the current version from the government page.

NSW forms at Service NSW

Direct to each form: Eighth Schedule (PDF) and Ninth Schedule (PDF). If you are unsure which you need, ask the organisation that requested it.

Who can witness a NSW statutory declaration

• a Justice of the Peace
• an Australian legal practitioner
• a notary public

JPs are volunteers and are commonly available at courthouses, libraries, council offices and some police stations. The NSW Department of Communities and Justice runs a public JP register you can search.

The identification rules that started in September 2024

The Oaths Regulation 2024 commenced on 1 September 2024, replacing the Oaths Regulation 2017. Under it, a witness satisfies the identity requirement in one of two ways:

• the witness has known you for at least 12 months, or
• the witness sights an original or certified copy of an identification document relating to you, before you make the declaration.

The regulation also rules out certain documents. A witness must not rely on an identification document that has been cancelled, or that has expired, with one exception: an Australian passport that has been expired for less than two years is still acceptable.

There is also a face-covering provision. A witness is exempted from the requirement to see your face if you are wearing a face covering and the witness is satisfied you have a special justification for not removing it, which includes a legitimate medical reason.

In practice: take current photo identification unless the JP has genuinely known you for more than a year.

Before you go

• Fill in the declaration but do not sign it.
• Take photo ID.
• Take any document you are attaching or referring to.
• Check whether the requesting body wants the Eighth or Ninth Schedule form.

Where this comes from

Every rule on this page comes from the official source below. We link them rather than copy them, because a form or a witness list that is out of date is worse than no form at all. Check the source if anything here matters to your document.

• Service NSW, prepare a NSW statutory declaration, both NSW forms and the witness categories.
• NSW statutory declaration, Eighth Schedule (PDF), the official form, published by the Department of Communities and Justice.
• NSW statutory declaration, Ninth Schedule (PDF), the official alternative form.
• Legal Aid NSW, statutory declarations, free plain-English guidance, including what to do if you need advice.
• Who can witness a Commonwealth statutory declaration, the much wider Commonwealth list, for comparison.