About .au Domains

auDA is the sponsor for the country-code top-level domain name (ccTLD) .com.au, .net.au, and .org.au extensions that represent Australia.

Who can register .au domains?

Companies or organizations that are registered to do business in Australia can register .com.au, .net.au, and .org.au domain names on a first-come, first-served basis.

Starting March 24th, 2022, .au direct domains will be available for registration.

Companies or organizations that currently have their .com.au, .net.au, or .org.au domain registered will be able to apply for the corresponding .au direct domain from March 24, 2022 through to September 20, 2022. This is known as Priority rights. After this date all Priority rights will be removed, and others will be able to register on a first-come, first-served basis.

Further information can be found in our .au Launch Info.

Registrants will be required to provide a valid Australian government-provided ID number or supporting documentation, and the domains must either be an exact match, abbreviation or acronym of the registrant's name or closely and substantially connected to the registrant.

Registrants using a valid Australian Business Number (ABN) or Australian Company Number (ACN) as eligibility will not be impacted by the rule changes.

For foreign entities relying on a trademark to satisfy Australian presence requirements only the Exact Match of the trademark is permitted. This applies to new registrations and renewals. Foreign registrants wishing to renew a domain name that does not match the trademark must either apply for the additional mark or satisfy the Australian presence requirement in another way such as registering a local business – information on this can be found by visiting Registering for an ABN. If you’re unable to satisfy the requirement then your domain cannot be renewed.

An Exact Match means that the domain must include all the words in the order which they appear in the Australian Trademark, excluding;

• DNS identifiers such as .com.au
• Punctuation marks such as an exclamation point or an apostrophe
• Articles such as ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘and’, or ‘of’
• Ampersands

EXAMPLE:

• Under the new rules, if your trademark is "A Pretty Horse Carousels", you could register:
• aprettyhorsecarousels.com.au
• prettyhorsecarousels.net.au
• You could not register:
• phc.com.au
• carousels.net.au
• aprettyhorse.com.au
• horsecarousels.com.au

The registrant of a .org.au unincorporated association must now provide a valid ABN and be registered with the ACNC (Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission) in order to register their domain name. Any registrant that does not meet this new requirement will be unable to register or renew .org.au domain names. Please review auDA's .org.au rule changes for further details.

What if I don't have an ABN/ACN?

In order to register a .com.au, .net.au or .org.au domain, you are required to have a valid ABN/ACN. If you do not have one, you will not be able to register a domain.

You can apply for an ABN on the ABR website.

What if my ABN/ACN has been cancelled?

Registrants who have previously registered domain names using an ABN/ACN which has since been cancelled must re-apply for their ABN at the ABR in order to qualify for a domain renewal. Further information on re-applying can be found on the ABR website.

• .au — Available from March 24, 2022
• .com.au — Intended for commercial entities.
• .net.au — Intended for network infrastructures, such as Internet Service Providers.
• .org.au — Intended for non-profit organizations.

A .com.au, .net.au, and .au registrant must be one of the following with a valid published ABN/ACN/ARBN or AU Trademark:

• An Australian registered company.
• Trading under a registered business name in any Australian State or Territory.
• An Australian partnership or sole trader.
• A foreign company licensed to trade in Australia.
• An owner of an Australian Registered Trade Mark.
• An applicant for an Australian Registered Trade Mark.
• An association incorporated in any Australian State or Territory.

A .org.au registrant must be one of the following with a valid published ABN/ACN/ARBN:

• An association incorporated in any Australian State or Territory.
• A charity operating in Australia, registered with ACNC.
• A non-profit organization operating in Australia, as defined in the registrant's constitution or other documents of incorporation.

Registration restrictions

When registering a .au domain, you must follow specific requirements.

• Must use: 2 - 63 Characters
• Can use: Letters (a-z characters), numbers (0-9) and hyphens (except in the 1st or last characters of the domain name)
• Cannot use: Special characters (e.g., & and #) or register explicitly for resale
• IDNs: Not supported

Features

• Registration length: 1-5 years
• Renewal length: 1-5 years
• You can renew your .au domain name 90 days prior to its expiration date.
• Your .au domain name renews before its expiration date. We attempt auto-renewal 13 days prior to the domain name's expiration date. If the renewal attempt fails, we re-attempt renewal 6 days prior to the domain name's expiration date and again on the domain name's actual expiration date.
• Backorders: Not supported
• Transfers to GoDaddy: Supported
• The transfers of .au domains do not include a free 1-year extension of the registration.
• Should you need to cancel a transfer in request for your .au domain, please contact us directly at auhelp@godaddy.com for assistance.
• Transfers away from GoDaddy: Supported
• Transfer Lock: Not supported
• For assistance cancelling a pending transfer away, please contact the gaining registrar.
• Transfers to another GoDaddy account: Supported
• When you move a .au domain to another account you cannot change the registrant's first name, last name, organization or legal type. Choose the "do not change" option for the contact information.
• Basic privacy protection: Not supported
• Protection plan upgrades: Not Supported
• Cash Parking: Supported
• Contact Updates: Supported
• When reviewing .au domain Whois results, you will see registrant contact and registrant eligibility information. These items are separate for .au domains.
• You can update contact information directly through your account. To update the registrant eligibility information, please contact auhelp@godaddy.com for assistance.
• An eligibility information update is viewed by the .au registry as a cancellation of the existing registration, and the creation of a new registration. Payment is required for the new registration, and there are no refunds for the cancelled registration.

Nameserver requirements

• Must use: 1-10 authoritive nameservers
• Can use: IPv4, IPv6, DNSSEC

Refunds

For details on refunds, see our refund policy. Most domains will follow the Standard Refund Terms, but certain domains may have exceptions or may not be refundable at all. Review the information under Products with Special Refund Terms > Domain Name Registrations/Renewals and Products Not Eligible for Refunds.

Cancellation requirements

To cancel your .au domain, contact our GoDaddy Guides for assistance.

More info

• Want to register a .au domain? Follow us for upcoming details.
• Want to register a .com.au domain? Search for your domain today.
• Want to register a .net.au domain? Search for your domain today.
• Want to register a .org.au domain? Search for your domain today.
• Check out our most common domain articles to get started with your .au domain.