Australia AU Domain Registration Rules

.AU Domain Name for Australia

.AU is the country code TLD for Australia, the must-have domain name for organisations, brands, and businesses in Australia. These domain names are licensed and administered by .au Domain Administration Limited (auDA).

Brainbox IT is your local, auDA accredited Australian Registrar, for all Australia domain names.

• .AU is the official domain name of Australia.

• .AU is a great opportunity for businesses trading in or with Australia to operate with a local presence.

• .AU allows you to target the Australian market.

• .AU has six Australian domain names: .COM.AU, .NET.AU, .ID.AU, .ASN.AU, .AU, and .ORG.AU.

What are you waiting for? Go ahead and register your .AU domain name now!

.AU Domain Name Registration

.AU domain names can now be registered for a minimum period of 1 year and a maximum period of 5 years. Under the .AU domain name, you may register domains with TLDs such as: .COM.AU, .NET.AU, .ID.AU,.ASN.AU, and .ORG.AU. Here are the eligibility and allocation rules:

1. .COM.AU and .NET.AU

Registrant must be:

a. An Australian registered company; or

b. Trading under a registered business name in any Australian State or Territory; or

c. An Australian partnership or sole trader; or

d. A foreign company licensed to trade in Australia; or

e. An owner of an Australian Registered Trade Mark; or

f. An applicant for an Australian Registered Trade Mark; or

g. An association incorporated in any Australian State or Territory; or

h. An Australian commercial statutory body.

2. .ORG.AU and .ASN.AU

Registrant must be:

a. An association incorporated in any Australian State or Territory; or

b. A political party registered with the Australian Electoral Commission; or

c. A trade union or other organisation registered under the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009; or

d. A sporting or special interest club operating in Australia; or

e. A charity operating in Australia, as defined in the registrant’s constitution or other documents of incorporation; or

f. A non-profit organisation operating in Australia, as defined in the registrant’s constitution or other documents of incorporation.

3. .ID.AU

Originally, id.au domain names can refer to any personalised name of the registrant. But starting March 24, 2022, the id.au domain name applied must be:

a. A match to the registrant’s legal name, first name, or family name.

b. An abbreviation or acronym of the registrant’s legal name, first name, or family name.

c. A nickname of the registrant.

d. An Australian citizen; or

e. An Australian resident.

Existing id.au domain names that do not meet these criteria will not be allowed to renew after March 24, 2022. However, you can pre-register the same domain name with .au direct.

.AU Domain Name Renewal

You can renew your domain name manually or you can set up Auto Renewal which is an optional feature available with all domains. The renewal date depends on whether you manually renew your domain name or set it to auto renew. We will attempt auto renewal on the 7th day prior to the domain name's expiration date. If the renewal attempt fails, we re-attempt renewal again on the 3rd day prior to the domain name's expiration date.

If all the renewal attempts fail and you do not manually renew your domain name by the expiration date, you must restore it.

.AU Domain Name Transfer

.AU domain names are very easy to transfer. You can transfer .AU domain names 3 days after registration to any registrar. Transferring your domain name to Brainbox IT is a simple process using the domain transfer page. Domain name transfers do not affect your website or emails. Your services connected to this domain name will not be affected. To start a transfer select Transfer Domains in the menu bar at the top of the page, under Domains.

.AU Domain Name Privacy

Private Tech registration is available for .AU domain names. This will allow you to protect your Tech Contact identity and private information, which we do recommend for all businesses.

Your .AU Australia domains have two contact identifiers, Registrant and Tech. By purchasing Private Tech, personal information under this contact are not displayed on the public WHOIS. The registrant contact will remain as the owner information on whois which will result in your personal information being disclosed on WHOIS. This option is available during domain registration, domain transfer and within your Account Manager.

.ORG.AU Domain Name Licensing

New licensing rules are applied to .ORG.AU domain names that are currently listed under Unincorporated Associations entity and are not registered with Australian Charities and Not for Profit Commission (ACNC). If you wish to keep your .ORG.AU domain names with Other Unincorporated Entity as the entity type, it is best to register to ACNC. Otherwise, we suggest you register an .ASN.AU domain name instead still under Unincorporated Associations entity.

Here is a list of options for existing unincorporated associations that are eligible to register with ACNC, but wish to keep their .ORG.AU domain name:

◦ Australian Public Company, Limited By Guarantee type; or

◦ Consider changing the legal status to meet the eligibility criteria for .ORG.AU; or

◦ Have a legal statement on their website stating that they are not for profit charity; or

◦ Partner with an entity with a like-minded entity that is already listed on ACNC.

Any request to change the current domain entity to a non-profit ABN entity requires a registrant transfer process where you need to fill out a Domain Change of Ownership Form and pay a COO fee.

The new licensing rules for the .AU ccTLD took effect on April 11, 2021. So when your current domain name license expires after the said date, it will be subject to the new rule during its renewal.

Failure to take action on or before the implementation date, the .ORG.AU domain name will be suspended as per auDA.