.au Domain Awareness

Background

On the 24th March 2022, the Australian Domain Administration (auDA) released a new website namespace with the “.au” shorter and more memorable namespace (for example “yourcompany.au”).

Application Process

If you have an existing domain (for example “yourcompany.com.au”, “yourcompany.org.au” or “yourcompany.net.au”) you will be given priority access to apply to purchase the corresponding “.au” domain first, before it is open to public purchases on 24th September 2022. This period before open registration is known as the Priority Allocation Period.

To complete this application during the Priority Allocation Period, a company or individual need to:

•    Prove that you hold the corresponding existing domain; and
•    Be an organisation registered in Australia or prove Australian Citizenship or permanent residency.

After the Priority Allocation Period expires, companies or individuals can register any .au domain, regardless of their proprietary rights over the namespace. Therefore, it is encouraged for companies and individuals to act before the period expires to secure their domain namespace.

What happens if my .au domain has been claimed by another company or person?

The auDA has announced that if there is more than one application for the corresponding .au domain namespace (for example if one company owns “yourcompany.com.au” and another company owns “yourcompany.net.au”) and you both apply for the .au domain namespace, then the decision over who is granted the .au domain rests on the following category criteria:

•    Category 1: Where the existing registered domain name (e.g. yourcompany.com.au) was created before the cut-off date (currently proposed to be 4th February 2018).
•    Category 2: Where the existing registered domain name was created between the cut-off date and prior to the .au commencement date.
•    General Availability: When there is no existing registered .com.au/.net.au domain name, these will be available at the .au commencement date on 24th September 2022, and on a first come, first served basis.

What does Loyal I.T. Solutions recommend their clients to do?

Loyal I.T. Solutions recommends that their clients protect their domain by applying for the new .au domain namespace as soon as possible to secure the safety and security of their brand. Our sales staff can help you with a quote for this, simply call us on (02) 4337 0700 or email quotes@loyalit.com.au.

In coming blogs we will give you an insight into why securing your .au domain namespace makes good cyber security sense.