.au direct names will launch on 24 March 2022.
In the first six months from launch there will be a Priority Allocation Process in place that will allow you to:
- register new .au direct names that don’t exist elsewhere in the .au registry and;
- apply for the exact match of any existing .au domain name you are the registrant of.
The launch process for .au direct names can be found in the .au Namespace Implementation Rules.
Registering new .au direct names
From 24 March 2022 you’ll be able to register new .au direct names.
New names are names that aren’t registered in any other .au namespace e.g. com.au, org.au. etc.
You’ll be able to register new names via any participating .au accredited registrars in accordance with the .au Licensing Rules.
Registering the exact match of an existing .au domain you hold
If you already hold a .au name in another namespace e.g. com.au, org.au. etc. you will have six months from launch to apply for its exact .au direct match, which will be reserved from public availability for that six-month period.
e.g. If you are the registrant of getyour.com.au you’ll have six months to apply for getyour.au, if you would like to licence it.
You’ll be able to apply for the exact match .au direct name via a participating .au accredited registrar.
In most cases you’ll be able to register and begin using your matching .au direct name very soon after you apply for it.
In a small fraction of cases there may be multiple applicants for the same .au direct name as there can be different registrants for the same name in different namespaces.
For example:
- Tina is the registrant of getyour.com.au
- Gene is the registrant of getyour.net.au
Both are eligible to apply for getyour.au
In these cases there is a process to determine which registrant gets to register the matching name.
You can read more detail about that here: The priority allocation process.
In all cases you can expect to hear from your existing .au registrar about the launch of .au direct names and how you can apply for the match of any .au names you might already hold licences for.
Applying to register your matching .au direct name is optional and has no effect on your existing .au domain names.
