.au domain names

One of the biggest changes in over 20 years is about to happen in Australia with the launch of au domain name extensions. If you’re not aware, .au domains have been available for you to secure an .au extension since March 2022, if you own any type of .au extension domain name.

What you need to know

• If you own any domain name ending in .au (.com.au, org.au, net.au .com.au, .net.au, .org.au, asn.au, .id.au, ) you are eligible to use the Priority Status to register your EXACT match for your current domain name. For example, pixelportal.com.au is eligible to claim the domain name pixelportal.au
• This Priority Status will end on 9:59AM AEST 21 September 2022
• UPDATE: (SOURCE: https://www.auda.org.au/tools/priority-status-tool) The .au direct Priority Allocation period has closed. If no priority applications have been made for the .au direct match of a pre-existing .au domain name (e.g. ending in com.au), the name will be become available to be registered in the .au direct namespace by the general public at 21:00 UTC 3 Oct 2022 (8:00AM AEDT 4 Oct).

Why should you purchase your .au domain name?

• Trust – this new extension lets users know that you’re a local and trusted business in Australia
• It’s much harder in Australia to register an .au domain – you must have an Australian registered business or organisation
• .au domain names are shorter, simpler domain names
• Stop anyone piggy backing off your brand. Imagine if your .au domain gets purchased by someone else! This could cause brand confusion online and potential loss of audience or sales

Check your .au status

Using the Priority Status Tool from auda.org, you can enter your domain name and check the status.

Use this tool to:

1. Check the Priority Category of a domain name. Priority Category has the meaning given to it in auDA's .au Namespace Implementation Rules.
2. See matching domain names in other .au namespaces and their Priority Category
3. See whether applicants have lodged an application for the matching .au direct name

The .au direct release will not impact any existing names in the .au domain space - such as com.au, .net.au, .edu.au, .gov.au and .org.au domains. These will all continue to operate as normal.

Need more help?

Ask us about your .au domain name, we can help you with a review and show you how to purchase and set up your .au domain name.

Visit https://www.auda.org.au/, Australian Administrators of the .au top level domain