What is the New “.au” Direct Domain?

Who Will Be Offered “.au” Domains

If you currently own “mypractice.com.au”, you will be able to apply to claim and register the equivalent “mypractice.au”

Who Is Eligible to Register a “.au” Domain?

Anyone with an Australia Presence is eligible to register for a “.au” direct domain name through an auDA accredited registrar. This means the applicant must be an Australian resident or registered entity, or an entity issued with an ABN.

Registrants of the existing .au domain, such as com.au, net.au, org.au, asn.au, id.au, gov.au and edu.au, will be able to participate in the Priority Allocation Process, which runs from UNTIL 20 SEPTEMBER 2022.

During the six-month priority allocation period, existing holders of a .au domain have first rights to apply for priority status to register the .au direct match of their name, if they choose. 

Failure to Apply for a “.au” Domain

If registrants do not apply, the “.au” domain will be made available for registration by the public on a first-come, first-served basis after this six-month period.

What To Do Next?

If we manage your domain:

Let us know if you want us to apply for a Direct “.au” Domain by email with the following:

• Your Name
• Your Practice
• Your Domain(s)
  

If you manage your domain:

Contact your domain manager or domain registrar and submit your Priority Status application. 

Please note, you will be unable to update the registrant information associated with your existing domain name while your application is active. It is important to make sure it is up to date before you lodge your application.

Contested Domain Names

When more than one person will apply for the same reserved “.au” direct name, this is referred to as a contested name.

For example, registrants for mydomain.com.au, mydomain.net.au and mydomain.org.au are all eligible to apply for Priority Status to register mydomain.au. 

These cases will be resolved based on the existing domain name licence creation date and priority cut-off date of 4 February 2018.

The domain names created on or before the cut-off date of 4 February 2018 are classified as priority Category 1.

On the other hand, domain names created after the cut-off date of 4 February 2018 are classified as priority Category 2. For example, the registrant for mydomain.com.au has a creation date of 1 March 2019, so the application for mydomain.au is classified as priority Category 2.

Remember there is no obligation to apply to register the .au direct exact match of your existing domain name. If you won’t register, your existing domain name will continue to operate as normal as long as you keep your registration up to date.