Written by Carla de Roza, Hannah Byun and Anika Valenti
A new category of domain names ending in ‘.au’ offers a shorter and more simple option for domain name holders. Using this new domain name would get rid of the .com, .net and .org that usually comes before the .au.
Existing Australian domain name licence holders have until 11:59 pm UTC 20 September 2022 (9:59 am AEST Wed 21 September 2022) to register for priority of the .au direct equivalent to match their current domain name. The .au equivalent will be available for registration by the general public after 9:00 pm UTC 3 October 2022 (8:00 am AEDT Tues 4 October 2022) if no priority applications have been made.
For example, the holder of the domain name “mybusiness.com.au” can apply for “mybusiness.au” before the general public. When registered, the .au equivalent domain name will be put on hold. This will prevent the general public from registering the .au domain name.
The priority registration process is important where organisations, businesses or individuals own similar domain names. If an existing domain name holder fails to register for priority of a .au direct domain name before the end of the Priority Allocation Period, they will be unable to challenge the registration of a .au direct domain name by a third party unless the registrant does not meet the ‘Australian Presence’ criteria.
The new .au direct domain name is for general purposes and can be used by anyone with an Australian presence. This is defined in section 1.4 of the .au Licensing Rules and includes citizens, permanent residents and organisations registered in Australia, imposing fewer requirements than com.au and net.au domain names.
To register for priority of .au domain names you can use your current registrar or visit one of the auDA accredited registrars here.
If you don’t want to register for the au. direct domain name that’s okay too - your existing domain name will continue to work as normal.
Read more about the priority allocation process here.
