If a relative in Italy has died and you are the heir in Sydney, Perth or Brisbane, Australian documents — a death certificate, a grant of probate, a power of attorney — still need to be recognised in Italy before anything else can move. Until recently that meant authentication by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) followed by legalisation at the Italian consulate: two offices, two fees, two queues. Australia's accession to the Hague Apostille Convention replaced the second step with a single certificate. It did not replace the first.
What changed
The 1961 Apostille Convention lets a public document move between member countries with one certificate — the apostille — instead of a chain of consular approvals. Australia was, for decades, outside the Convention, so an Australian document for use in Italy went through DFAT authentication and then Italian consular legalisation on top of it. Since Australia's accession took effect, DFAT issues an apostille in place of the old authentication certificate, and the Italian consulate no longer needs to legalise it. One office, one certificate, for documents issued after the change.
Confirm the exact date your document's authentication falls under with DFAT or with the Italian-side professional handling the estate before you rely on it: accession dates and transition arrangements are the kind of detail worth checking against the current DFAT guidance rather than against anything written before the change, including this article some months from now.
What DFAT apostilles directly, and what it does not
This is the detail the backlog question is really asking, and it is easy to get wrong by assuming Australia works like a country with a single national registrar. DFAT is the Australian competent authority for the apostille, but for a federation that does not mean every document reaches DFAT in the same state it was issued.
A birth, death or marriage certificate issued by a state or territory registry, or a grant of probate issued by a state Supreme Court, generally needs to be certified or authenticated at the state level first — the same layer that existed under the old authentication process — before DFAT apostilles the certifying signature. DFAT apostilles federal documents, and documents that have already passed through the relevant state or territory certification, directly. It does not independently verify the underlying facts on a state-issued document, and it does not substitute for getting the state-level step done first. Do not assume your document goes straight to DFAT: confirm with the issuing state or territory authority, or with DFAT's own current guidance, which step comes before the apostille for your specific document.
Why this matters for an Italian succession specifically
An Italian estate with an Australian heir typically needs an apostilled and translated version of: the death certificate (if the deceased died in Australia, or an Australian-issued certificate is otherwise part of the file), the grant of probate or letters of administration showing who is authorised to act for the estate, and any power of attorney the heir signs authorising an Italian professional to act without the heir travelling.
Each of these needs the apostille before translation, not after. The sworn translation made in Italy has to cover the apostille certificate itself, so translating first in Australia only means the apostille step still has to happen, followed by a second translation covering it. For the mechanics of that sequence and which document needs which route, see our guide on apostille and sworn translation.
Where Australia stood before, and what carries over
Australia's position mirrored Canada's before January 2024: both were English-speaking common-law countries outside the Convention while the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland had been members for years. An Australian executor comparing notes with an American co-heir would typically find the American side of the file moving through a single certificate while the Australian side needed the older two-step chain. That gap closes for documents issued after Australia's accession took effect — but, as above, only the consular-legalisation step disappears. The state-level certification that sat underneath DFAT's old authentication process has not gone anywhere; it has simply moved under the apostille instead of under authentication.
A document already authenticated and legalised under the old route before the change does not need to be redone. It remains valid on the basis it was issued.
The direction that matters, and the one that also exists
Most Australian estates with an Italian asset need documents moving from Australia into Italy, but the same convention works in both directions. If an Italian document needs to be used in Australia — an Italian death certificate, or a power of attorney signed before an Italian notaio for use in an Australian court or land registry — Italy issues its own apostille, through the prefettura or the relevant court, on the same logic.
Which law actually governs the estate
The apostille only gets a document recognised; it says nothing about which country's succession law applies, or what an Australian heir is entitled to under it. For deaths since August 2015, EU Regulation 650/2012 generally determines the governing law based on the deceased's habitual residence, and Italian authorities apply it regardless of where the heir lives. That question, and the Italian filing deadlines that run from the date of death rather than from when an heir finds out, are covered in our guide to the Italian succession declaration for a foreign heir.
Getting the paperwork recognised is the mechanical first step. Understanding what the estate actually owes, and in Italy inheritance tax is often lower than an Australian heir expects — see our guide on Italian inheritance tax for foreign heirs — and what the heir is entitled to under the governing law is the question that actually decides the outcome.
Every estate carries its own combination of documents, state-level requirements and deadlines, and an Australian file has details an American or Canadian one does not. It is worth having it checked on its own facts: you can ask for a free consultation about your specific situation.