Secure your .AU Today!
Since 2015, the Australian domain landscape has seen exciting changes. The introduction of.au domains was one of them. Furthermore, the.au Domain Administration (auDA), the governing body for.au domains, recently announced that.au direct domains have be available to the public since March 24, 2022.
This will allow businesses, organisations, and individuals with a local connection to Australia to register a .au direct domain rather than second-level.au extensions like.com.au,.org.au, and so on.
The domain extension.au is short and easy to remember. It’s an excellent domain for businesses looking to expand their local presence and customer base in Australia.
Why should you pre-register for a .au domain?
If you are new to the.au domain namespace and intend to register a direct.au domain, it is best to register a second level.au domain today, prior to the.au direct launch.
This is due to the fact that existing.au domain owners are automatically eligible to apply for Priority Status Allocation. This means they get first dibs on registering the matching.au direct domain to their existing domain. As a result, if you own register.com.au, you can apply for priority status for register.au.
How Priority Access Work
Since March 24, 2022, .au direct names have been available. Priority Hold has been placed on all names in the registry prior to launch, preventing the general public from registering them as.au direct names for the six-month Priority Application Period.
Existing.au domain name registrants who licenced their names prior to 24 March 2022 will have priority to apply to register the.au direct exact match of their name until 23:59 UTC 20 September 2022 (9:59AM AEST 21 Sept), if they wish to licence it.
For example, the registrant of ozdomainname.com.au.com.au can request priority registration of ozdomainname.au.
In most cases, the applicant will be assigned the.au direct name shortly after applying for it.
It is possible that more than one person will apply for the same.au direct name in a small number of cases. This can happen when multiple registrants own the same name in different namespaces. This is referred to as a contested name.
As an example:
- Barry is the owner of ozdomainname.com.au.
- Sandy is the owner of ozdomainname.net.au.
- Both names were created prior to March 24, 2022.
Tina and Gene are both eligible to apply for getyour.au in this case. The.au direct name will be assigned based on priority categories determined by the existing domain name licence creation date, in relation to the priority cut-off date of February 4, 2018. More information on contested names can be found below.
If no eligible registrant applies for a.au direct name during the six-month Priority Allocation Period, that name will become available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis at 21:00 UTC on October 3, 2022. (8:00AM AEDT 4 Oct).
There is no requirement to apply for registration of the.au direct exact match of your existing domain name. Your existing.au domain names will continue to function normally and in accordance with auDA policy as long as you keep your registration information up to date.
Who is eligible to apply for priority status?
To apply for Priority Status, the registrant must have a.au domain name that was registered prior to the launch of.au direct and must still be eligible to hold that domain name licence under the.au Licensing Rules.
As an example:
- Barry owns the domain name ozdomainname.com.au and wishes to register ozdomainname.au.
- Barry can apply for Priority Status through his registrar (or another accredited registrar) during the six-month Priority Application Period.
How to Apply
If you want to apply for a.au domain, simply contact Hosting Australia support to see if your domain is eligible.
If you want to apply for a.au domain, simply contact Hosting Australia support to see if your domain is eligible.
If you want to register the domain name yourself. You can do so through our client area or by visiting this URL. For your application to be accepted, you will also need a priority token (or authorisation code).
AU domains are $24.50 for a year or $122.50 for five years. There is also a $30 registration fee if you want us to process your registration on your behalf.