Australia’s New Domain Extension Is Now Available – .AU

While registering our new 7thvision.AU domain name recently we thought we should pass on some information on the new extension and why we purchased ours.

While we wouldn’t typically recommend buying up every variation of your domain/business name for the sake of it, there are a few reasons why you may want to consider this extension:

• The rules for registration will be slightly different. For existing Australian domain extensions such as .com.au, .net.au and .org.au the registrant has always been required to associate an ABN to the domain registration. The domain name also was required to have some kind of direct association to the ABN holder such as business name or service provided.
  Once these new domains have been released in the wild, the .AU extension will only require proof of residence such as a driver’s license number. This means that business name based domains are much more likely to be bought up by domain hoarders looking to take advantage of businesses after the fact. While other regulations and trademark laws still apply as they usually would, proactively registering the .AU may save some future headaches.
• Australian based domain extensions are limited. The .AU domain extension is the first new Australian targeted extension available to general business owners since .com.au and .net.au were released at the dawn of the internet. While the popularity of the new extension is hard to predict, protecting yourself as an Australian brand is very easy to do.

How do you secure your .AU?

Simply contact 7thVision and we’ll look after it for you. Registration pricing is the same as .com.au which is $77 inclusive of GST for 2 years.

If there are any issues around eligibility for your domain then we can let you know also.

Important dates

March 24th, 2022 – registration opens, Priority Application Period begins

Registration has already opened for .AU domains. In the first 6 months following the launch, current holders of existing Australian domain names (eg. example.com.au or example.net.au) will have a priority right to claim the corresponding name directly under .AU. If you are the single eligible holder, then the .AU will be allocated to you immediately on registration.

If you only own one of the variations or a different business owns one of the variations, there are a range of rules in place when it comes to allocation and how it’s prioritised which we would be happy to explain. Long story short, if you already have a .com.au or .net.au version of a domain name and you would like to register the .AU version, then you should do so before the names are released to the general public.

20 September 2022 – Priority Application Period ends, all names made available for registration

From this date, the .AU extension can be purchased for any domains not yet registered. So basically any Australian resident can register a .AU version of your domain.

If we can assist secure your .AU domain, or if you have any questions then please contact us.