The .au Domain Administration(auDA) has officially announced that direct .au domain name registrations will commence from 24 March 2022, giving you access to shorter, more memorable names to promote your business website – meaning you will soon be able to register yourname.au with Goulburn Data.
It is important to note that .au direct is optional and will not affect your existing .au domain names.
Eligibility for everybody in Australia!
.au direct registrations will be the first namespace within Australia where anyone with a local connection to Australia is eligible to a .au direct registration through Goulburn Data.
Whether you’re an association, business, or individual, you will be eligible to register a .au direct domain name through Goulburn Data.
Priority Allocation Process
Overview of the .au direct Priority Allocation Process.
Registrants with an existing .au domain name/license (eg. a registrant who holds yourdomain.com.au) will have the first opportunity to register the exact match of their existing domain name at the direct level (eg. yourdomain.au) through the Priority Allocation Process.
auDA has confirmed that exact matches of all names in the Australian registry prior to the launch of the new namespace will be reserved for .au direct during the six-month Priority Allocation Period, beginning in March 2022.
In the event more than one registrant is eligible to apply for Priority Status for the same .au name, the name will be allocated according to priority categories, which will be determined by:
- Creation date of the existing domain name
- The Priority cut-off date of 4 February 2018, as outlined in auDA’s Priority Allocation Process.
Priority categories:
Category 1) Domain name licenses with a creation date on or before the Priority Status cut-off date of 4 February 2018.
Category 2) Domain name licenses with a creation date after the Priority Status cut-off date of 4 February 2018.
Priority Allocation of .au direct domain names for existing .au registrants.
How do I get more information about .au?
- auDA has prepared a fact sheet with information about the new namespace and the Priority Allocation period.
