Why signing it changes things
Personal agreements usually go wrong the same way. Nobody wrote down what was agreed, so six months later there are two honest and completely different memories of it. A signed document ends that argument, not because anyone plans to go to a tribunal, but because both people can read the thing they agreed to.
A screenshot of a text message is some evidence. A PDF that both people signed, with a record of when each of them did it and what they were looking at, is a great deal better.
What the law asks of an electronic signature
The Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth) and the matching state and territory Acts treat an electronic signature as a signature when four things hold: the method identifies the person, it shows they intended to sign, it is reliable enough for what the document is, and the other person consented to signing electronically.
Refrendo records what bears on each of them. Each person opens their own link from their own email, agrees to use electronic records before they see the document, and sees the consent wording before they finish. Every step is recorded and fingerprinted, so a later change to the file can be detected. Whether that is enough for a particular agreement is for the people signing it.
The documents to be careful with
Electronic signing is not universal, and the exceptions are real:
- Wills. Every state sets formal signing and witnessing rules for wills. Follow your state’s requirements, or see a lawyer, rather than signing one electronically.
- Statutory declarations. Commonwealth ones can be made digitally through myGov with a Digital ID, or signed electronically and witnessed over video. State and territory declarations have their own rules.
- Land and property. Transfers, mortgages and leases you register run through the land titles system, which has its own electronic process.
- Powers of attorney and deeds. Rules differ by state, and most still want a witness for an individual.
This is general information, not legal advice. If the document matters, check it.
Start here
- Flatmate agreements: the share house rules, agreed by everyone before anyone moves in.
- Lease agreements: sign a residential tenancy agreement the way your state allows.
What you end up with
A signed PDF, and a completion certificate listing everyone who signed, when, how they were identified, and SHA-256 fingerprints of the document before and after. If anyone ever changes a number in that PDF, the fingerprint stops matching and you can prove it. Both are emailed to everyone who signed.