The domain namespace, “.au” has been made available exclusively to existing Australian domain name owners from 24 March 2022 – 20 September 2022.

After this time, if you have not registered your business name’s .au address – anyone can.

The “.au” has a Direct namespace and is intended to complement, rather than replace, the existing second-level domain namespaces and to provide domain holders with the option to register shorter, simpler domain names.

Unlike the existing second-level domain namespaces, there is no restriction on the domain names that can be registered in the .au namespace, provided the domain name applicant satisfies the Australian presence requirement.

 A domain name ending in .au signifies that the person or organisation using it has a connection Australia. In .au we have several different namespaces serving different sectors and purposes and with different rules for who can register them and what name they can have.

‘Open’ .au namespaces

The open namespaces are those in which the public can register names, provided they are eligible.

Each name space serves a specific type of enterprise or purpose and rules for who can register in them, and what names they can register vary between them.

The rules for who can register what names in these open namespaces can be found in the .au Domain Administration Rules: Licensing.

Background

The domain name was originally allocated by Jon Postel, operator of IANA to Kevin Robert Elz of Melbourne University in 1986.

After an approximately five-year process in the 1990s, the Internet industry created a self-regulatory body called .au Domain Administration (auDA) to operate the domain. It obtained assent from ICANN in 2001, and commenced operating a new competitive regime for domain registration on 1 July 2002. Since this new regime, any registration has to be ordered via a registrar.

Ready for the next step.

Registrations are currently permitted below a second-level domain, such as “yourname.com.au”. In April 2016, auDA announced it would introduce registrations directly at the second level, such as “yourname.au”.

Direct registrations were due to be implemented in 2017 although due to an ongoing debate on how cybersquatting would be mitigated with the release of the direct second-level registrations has led to a delay, with a new launch date of 24 March 2022.

Registration of a .au domain is completed through a reseller, known as a registrar, with the registry acting as the wholesale provider. auDA manages domain name policy as the ICANN and Australian Government-endorsed manager of the .au DNS.

Second-level domains

• .com.au – Commercial entities
• .net.au – Commercial entities (historically only ISPs, but the use has been broadened)
• .org.au – Associations and non-profit organisations (historically only for organisations that did not fit in other categories)
• .edu.au – Educational institutions (see Third-level domains, below)
• .gov.au – Governments and their departments (see Third-level domains, below)
• .asn.au – Associations and non-profit organisations
• .id.au – Individuals (by real name or common alias)
• .csiro.au – CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)

The *.edu.au, *.gov.au and *.csiro.au namespaces are referred to as “Closed” namespaces, since registration is not available to the general public. All other second-level namespaces are referred to as “Open” namespaces.

The new rules provide an “Australian presence” requirement for all domain name holders. To satisfy the Australian presence requirement, an individual must be an Australian permanent resident or citizen, while an organisation must either be incorporated in Australia or hold an Australian Business Number (ABN). Holders of an Australian trade mark also satisfy the Australian presence requirement, provided the domain name is an exact match of the trade mark.

For most domain types, the licensing rules also require that the domain name must be:

• a match, acronym or abbreviation of the name of the holder; or
• a match of the name of products, services, events, programs, premises or activities associated with the domain name holder; or
• a match of the holder’s Australian trade mark.

Sub-licensing of a domain name is prohibited, unless the domain name holder is a parent company of the licensee.

What’s next?

You are not obligated to sign up for the .au address, though it may be something your business would like to consider.

If you need help with this – please do not hesitate to get in touch and one of our de Kretser members would love to help you in the right direction.

T: +61 3 9550 6900 E:admin@dekretser.com.au

To stay connected and informed, follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook