Register your .au domain!

The .au domain is the new, general purpose, shorter Australian domain name option. If you have an existing domain, you have until 11:59 pm (UTC) on 20 September 2022 (9:59am AEST on 21 September) is the cut-off to pre-register for your .au direct domain.

 If you do not pre-register the direct match of your existing domain for the direct .au domain, you risk someone else registering as the owner and your investment in your brand being diverted.  This could include competitors redirecting your clients to their products and services, domain traders holding the domain, or cybercriminals impersonating your business. The opening of the new .au domain is the single biggest shift in Australian cyber real estate in decades and the risks for business are high.

If you are registering:

• an exact match of your existing domain name, for example .com.au or net.au; and
• you held your domain name prior to 24 March 2022

then you have priority access but only up until 11:59pm UTC on 20 September 2022 (9:59am AEST on 21 September). Once this deadline has passed, the .au direct domain name will be available to anyone with a connection to Australia to register from 8:00am AEDT 4 October.

While you can register for the .au domain through any number of providers, the most efficient method is to utilise your existing provider. To do this, you will need your domain’s access information, in particular the hosting service you use. If these details cannot be found, it can take some time to recover them so do not leave the registration process until the last minute.

Once you have applied for your matching .au domain, if your application is uncontested, you will be able to use the .au direct name soon after applying for priority status.

What happens if the holder of a .com.au and .net.au both apply for the .au name?

If you share a domain name with another entity, for example, one entity owns .com.au and the other .net.au, the right to register the .au domain will cascade according to priority.

Category 1 are those that secured the domain on or before 4 February 2018. Category 1 applicants have priority over Category 2 applicants who registered their domain after 4 February 2018. If the name is contested by a Category 1 and a Category 2 applicant, the Category 1 applicant will secure the name. If two Category 2 applicants apply for the name, the name is allocated to the applicant with the earlier domain license creation date.

Most hosting services will give you the option when pre-registering to nominate an existing address (for example you are existing web address) for any traffic for the new .au domain to be redirected to.  This would be strongly recommended.

It may also be a good time to consider any other domain names that are applicable to your business and registering those.  Registering a domain name is reasonably inexpensive and can prevent others from trading on your online presence or reputation.