The Priority Allocation Period for .au direct domain names is now closed.
Registrants of .au domain names registered before 24 March 2022 (e.g. ending in com.au, net.au, org.au) were able to participate in the Priority Allocation Process, which ran from 24 March to 20 September 2022.
The Priority Allocation Process is set out in the .au direct Priority Implementation Rules.
.au direct names that were:
- Subject to priority hold under the Priority Allocation Process; and
- Did not receive a priority application during the Priority Allocation Period
will become available to be registered by eligible members of the general public at 21:00 UTC 3 Oct 2022 (8:00AM AEDT 4 Oct 2022).
Overview
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Contested names
In a small number of cases there are .au direct domain names that remain subject to priority hold. These names remain unallocated as there are active ‘category 1’ priority applications from multiple, eligible registrants.
In those cases, the .au direct name will only be allocated either by agreement between the parties, or when there is only one active application remaining.
Resolving the allocation of a contested .au name
The priority applicants will need to negotiate between themselves to determine who will be allocated the .au direct domain name they have applied for.
Applicants will be able to contact each other via the publicly available registrant contact email address found in WHOIS.
The priority status tool can be used to see which registrants have an active application for a .au direct domain name that remains on priority hold.
Where an agreement is reached:
- The agreed applicant(s) will withdraw their applications;
- The name is allocated to the registrant with the only active priority application remaining. The licence will be applied for an initial one-year licence term.
Where no agreement is reached:
- The .au direct domain name will remain subject to priority hold;
- The name will remain on priority hold until there is only one active application remaining.
Applicants will need to renew their application on a yearly basis if they wish to remain in contention of the .au direct domain name.
Please note that withdrawing an active application is final and cannot be reversed.
