Work with us
Witnessing work that fits around a practice
Auswitness is an online witnessing service. The work is short video appointments with people who need a document witnessed and would otherwise be driving somewhere to get it done. There is one opening at the moment, and it is set out in full below.
Witnessing practitioner (independent contractor)
- Engagement
- Independent contractor, not employment
- Where
- Remote, anywhere in Australia
- Pay
- Per session
- Hours
- You set your own availability
You would be engaged as a contractor rather than employed. You publish the hours you are willing to take, change them whenever you like, and are paid for the sessions you actually do.
What the work is
Short appointments over video
Most sessions take about ten minutes, and the calendar is built in 15 minute slots. Some are booked ahead, some are people who arrive without an appointment and are connected to whoever is free.
Confirming who you are speaking to
The signatory photographs an Australian driver licence, an Australian passport or a foreign passport and takes a selfie before the call. You check those against the person in front of you, live, and decide whether you are satisfied.
Watching the signature and endorsing it
You confirm which document the signatory is signing, watch them sign it on screen in real time, then sign as witness. The endorsement for the jurisdiction and document type is assembled and applied for you, so you are reading and approving it rather than drafting it.
When sessions run
Nothing is offered outside service hours, whatever a practitioner publishes. Those hours are weekdays 12:15pm – 1:30pm and 5:30pm – 9:00pm, Saturdays 9:00am – 6:30pm and Sundays 9:00am – 8:30pm, Brisbane time. Brisbane has no daylight saving, so they do not shift in summer but the hour they fall on in your own state may.
What comes through
Statutory declarations, affidavits, and contracts or deeds, for Cth, QLD, NSW, VIC, SA, ACT, NT. Wills, enduring powers of attorney, advance health directives and land title documents are screened out where the flow can detect them, and Western Australia and Tasmania are not covered at all.
What you need
- Admitted as a legal practitioner in an Australian jurisdiction, holding a current practising certificate.
- Professional indemnity insurance.
- Able to witness documents for the jurisdictions the service covers.
- A quiet, private space where a call cannot be overheard, and a camera, microphone and connection that hold up for a video call.
- Comfortable on video. Most people signing are doing this for the first time and are anxious about the form in front of them.
Every session is recorded and the recording is stored on Australian servers, because the remote witnessing provisions we operate under expect a practitioner to be able to say what happened on the call.
How to apply
Send a message through the contact form and choose “Working with us” as the topic. There is no published address for applications, deliberately. The form reaches a person directly.
Tell us where you are admitted, what practising certificate you hold and who issued it, whether you currently hold professional indemnity cover, and roughly which parts of the week you would want to take sessions. Please don't attach certificates or identity documents to a first message. We will ask when we need them.
This is the only opening at present. Anything else we need will be listed on this page.