Call our Sales & Support Team on
03 9815 6868
ISO27001 Certificate
.au Direct

.au Direct

.au direct - Australia's newest domain

www.
.au
Order Summary
Configure
GET YOUR

domain.au

Register Here

FREE

URL FORWARDING

FOR NEW .AU DOMAINS

.au
Something
Something
Something
Something

Get your .au domain

March 2022 marks an important milestone in the history of the Australian Domain Name space.
Currently only 3rd level domains (such as example.com.au, example.net.au) are available for registration.
On March 24th 2022, auDA (the Governing Body of Australian domains) will allow direct AU registrations on the 2nd level.
This means a domain such as example.au can be registered.

On the launch date, .au applications will be grouped into 2 categories;

Available
These are .au domains that do not match an existing 3rd level domain (eg .com.au, .net.au, .org.au, .id.au)
These applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Priority
These are .au domains that do match at least 1 existing 3rd level domain (eg .com.au, .net.au, .org.au, .id.au)
There will be a 6 month priority window used to handle these applications.
The process for these applications will vary.

Made for Australia

.au will be restricted to Australian's only - providing confidence that it's an Australian website

Short and Sweet

.au is a convenient way to shorten your existing URLs, allowing businesses and individuals to create a more memorable address.

Available to all

.au is open to all businesses, organizations or individuals that are connected to Australia.

Priority Applications

A 6 month priority window will open on the 24th March 2022, providing owners of existing 3rd level domains (eg. example.com.au) the chance to secure the corresponding .au domain (example.au)

Once the priority window closes, any .au domains that have not been secured will be made available to the general public.

Priority Applications will be split into 2 groups;

Uncontested

This is where the .au domain matches 1 existing domain (e.g. the .com.au)

Only the owner of the existing domain can apply for the new .au domain

After applying, the new .au domain will be registered within 24 hours.

Contested

This is where the .au domain matches multiple existing domains (eg. the .com.au, .net.au & .org.au)

Only owners of the existing domains can apply for the new .au domain.

The new .au domain will be allocated in line with a Priority Category system, which has been devised by auDA.

First, the existing (3rd level) domains are classified as either;

  • Priority category 1: Created on or before February 4, 2018 at 23:59:59 (UTC)
  • Priority category 2: Created after February 4, 2018 at 23:59:59 (UTC)

These categories are used to rank & prioritise the existing (3rd level) domains during & at the end of the 6 Month Priority Window.

Allocation Determination
  • If only Category 2 applications have been received, the .au domain will be allocated to the owner of the 3rd level domain that was registered first/earliest.
  • If Category 1 and Category 2 applications have been received, all Category 2 applications will be disregarded (all Category 1 applications have priority over Category 2).
  • If multiple Category 1 applications have been received (or all Category 2 applications have been disregarded) the remaining applicants can negotiate and try to reach a private agreement.

If an agreement cannot be reached, the active applications for the .au domain will need to be renewed on an annual basis (in Sept each year). The .au domain will only be allocated when 1 active application remains.

Priority Tool
auDA has provided a tool which confirms a .au domain's Priority Status (and ranking for Contested domains). The tool can be found here
Pricing
.au Pricing will mirror the current pricing of .com.au / .net.au domains.
Registration Period
  • Available Domains can be registered for 1-5 years
  • Priority Domains (Single Match / Uncontested) can be registered for 1-5 years
  • Priority Domains (Multiple Match / Contested) will incur a non-refundable application fee. This fee is renewable each year, until the .au domain has been allocated. (when the .au is allocated, the fee with cover the 1st year of registration).