Everything you need to know about the Justice of the Peace Course

Becoming a Justice of the Peace is a common ambition for many people from all walks of life. Being a Justice of the Peace means holding a prestigious position with the authority and ability to serve your community.

What services do Justices of the Peace provide?

A Justice of the Peace provides all kinds of services to people including witnessing oaths, signatures and affidavits. They also attest executions of documents and certify true copies of documents, issue search and arrest warrants and even grant bail.

A JP helps people in the biggest moments of their lives – getting married, getting divorced or buying a house are all occasions where you’ll need the services of JP.

That is why being a JP is a terribly important and endlessly rewarding endeavor to undertake.

The Process

It’s no wonder so many people want to become a JP but there is more involved than simply completing the Justice of the Peace (Qualified) course. There is a process for appointment you’ll need follow afterwards and some stipulations to getting approved but don’t worry, we are here to explain everything.

The first step to becoming a JP is to complete the Justice of the Peace course. ASSET offers this course as a two day face to face workshop with an external exam, at our North Lakes, Gold Coast and Townsville locations. I

f your schedule doesn’t allow for the face to face workshop you can complete this course online as well. The external exam is open book and completed from home. If you do the face to face workshop a trainer will take you through all the course materials and discuss in class then you’ll take all this home and do the exam.

For the online version all the course materials are sent to you and you are able to complete external exam with the course materials there for reference.

Previous JP Students

Previous students have noted how much they enjoyed the class atmosphere, ‘The JP face to face workshop with Asset College is great. Learning with a group from a professional trainer over 2 days and working through the assessments together made the course engaging and at times entertaining! I highly recommend it.’ Jacqui Wright.

After you have completed the Justice of the Peace course and received your certificate you have up to two years to make your application for appointment to be a JP.

The appointment process can take approximately three months. You’ll need to fill in an online application for appointment to the position of Justice of Peace and you’ll need to provide your statement of attainment from the Justice of the peace course, two written character references and proof of your Australian citizenship if you were born overseas.

Your application is then sent to and reviewed by your State Member of Parliament and they may arrange an interview with you before nominating you to the appointment.

Once they nominate you for appointment as a Justice of the Peace The Department of Justice and Attorney General will assess your application against the Justices of the Peace and Commissioners for Declarations act of 1991 and 2017.

If you are successful, you’ll take an Oath of Office and pay the Registration fee before you begin serving as JP.

Become a JP today

It might sound like a lot to do but it’s an important position and the benefits certainly outweigh the costs, with recent ASSET Graduate and JP Carol Woodward telling us ‘It’s personally rewarding knowing you can help someone with a personal family matter or something like migration documents. You get to meet so many people each with their own story. We all need something notarized in our life and the free JP services take the stress away for many people.’

To learn more about becoming a JP contact us.

Find out more about Asset College and why we were awarded QLD’s Large Training Provider of the Year in 2020.