These shorter Australian domain names are currently reserved for businesses that already use the relevant com.au, net.au or org.au addresses until 20 September 2022.
Australians have access to shorter and simpler domain names from March with the introduction of direct .au domain names.
Previously, it was only possible to license lower level .au domain names, such as com.au, net.au, org.au.
If a business already had a domain name ending in .au, and registered it before 24 March 2022, the matching .au direct domain has been placed on a six-month priority hold – meaning that they have the first choice to register it.
Any domain names not registered by 20 September 2022 will be available for the general population.
This change was announced by .au Domain Administration (auDA) that is the organisation responsible for internet domains in Australia.
To be eligible for a .au domain, you must have a current Australian presence. This includes:
- An Australian registered company
- An Australian partnership or sole trader
- An owner of an Australian registered trade mark
- An Australian registered charity
- An Australian registered political party
- A trust where the trustee is an Australian citizen
- A foreign company licensed to trade in Australia
- A permanent Australian resident or citizen (not supported at the time of launch)
A domain name ending in the .au namespace (com.au, .net.au, .org.au, .edu.au etc.) indicates the business, organisation or individual using it has a connection to Australia. There are also specific rules around whether you can register domains in the .au namespace.
Some businesses and companies use domains such as .com.au or .net.au, a charity using .org.au and governments using .gov.au, as some examples.
These rules are administered by the .au Domain Administration, known as the auDA, a not-for-profit organisation that works with a range of stakeholders including industry, government and the Australian and international community.
