Published: February 22, 2022 Last Updated: February 22, 2022
New Domains Coming To Australia
Did you know there are new domain names coming to Australia in 2022? auDA or .au Domain Administration Limited is the organisation responsible for administering the .au domains, which until now, included:
- .com.au
For commercial entities with an ABN or State Government registration. - .net.au
For commercial entities with an ABN or State Government registration. - .org.au
For charities and non-profit organisations. - .asn.au
Less known domain for incorporated associations (eg. political parties, sporting groups etc). - .id.au
Another lesser known domain for Australian citizens or residents. - Plus a range of closed domains such as .gov.au, .edu.au, qld.au etc.
If you have a website, then you will have a domain of some description.
Introducing the .au Domain
From the 24th March 2022 you can register a .au domain. This means you can have a domain like probityweb.au, instead of the current probityweb.com.au.
The process for registering your .au domain
From the 24th March you can go to most Australian Registrars and search for your .au domain and register it. If you don't have a preferred Registrar you can always register it through us with TPP (one of ther largest).
What if someone registers the same domain name as my .com.au domain?
If you already have a .com.au or .net.au domain, you will have priority in registering the .au domain over someone trying to register a new domain name. So to prevent this, there is a grandfathering period where any .au domain that is registered before 20th September 2022, that is the same as a .com.au or .net.au domain, will be put on hold. If on the 20th September no-one else has tried to register the domain name it will become yours. If 2 or more people have tried to register the same domain, priority will be given to whoever holds the .com.au or .net.au versions and then it will come down to who registered their original domain first.
So the imporand dates to remember are:
- 24th March 2022 - .au domains are able to be registered. Matching domains to .com.au or .net.au versions will be put on hold.
- 20th September 2022 - the grandfathering period is over and any undisputed domains are released from hold. Any disputed domains have their ownership decided.
Where can you find out more about .au Domains?
You can find out more about these domains here:
Should you register for a .au Domain?
If we are being sceptical we could see the release of .au domains as a money making exercise by auDA. After all, the millions of businesses with .com.au and .net.au domains are most likely going to want to protect their brand by registering the .au version. It only costs $30 or so to register the domain for 2 years, so the decision isn't a big one. But for auDA, this has the potential to make millions from their existing registrants.
That being said, they are going ahead with it whether we agree or not and you should protect your website brand if it isn't unique. So whilst we don't recommend you register a .au domain and make it your main domain, we do recommend that you register it to protect it from falling into a competitors hand and creating confusion in the marketplace.