Domains

Domains Help

About .au Domains

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

Who can register .au domains?

Individuals and entities that meet Australian presence requirements can apply to register .au, .com.au, .net.au, domain names on a first-come, first-served basis.

  • .au — Intended for Australian businesses or individuals.
  • .com.au — Intended for commercial entities.
  • .net.au — Intended for network infrastructures, such as Internet Service Providers.
  • .org.au — Intended for non-profit organizations.

If you are an individual registrant — For First Name and Last Name, enter your legal first and last name. Company Name is optional but is not the registrant, include the Australian jurisdiction and, the Australian government provided ID number, and supporting documentation.

If you are a non-individual registrant — For First Name and Last Name, enter your legal first and last name. For Company Name, enter the full official name of your entity. If it isn't part of the full official name, include the Australian jurisdiction and, the Australian government provided ID number. In addition, the domains must either be an exact match, abbreviation or acronym of the registrant's or closely and substantially connected to the registrant. non-individual 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.

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

Who can register .org.au domains?

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.
  • An unincorporated association that is registered with the ACNC (Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission). Please review auDA's .org.au rule changes for further details.

What if I don't have an ABN/ACN? or ABN/ACN has been cancelled?

You can apply or re-apply for an ABN/ACN on the the ABR website.

What is next if I have .AU priority status?

When multiple Priority 1 status registrants exist, then it will be up to the registrants to decide which party will register the .AU domain. If consensus cannot be met the domain will remain unregistered.

External resources for .AU domain.

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: 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.

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