auDA implements RDAP protocol to access public .au registry data

auDA has implemented the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) for the .au domain, providing a new way for machine-to-machine access to .au domain name registration information.

RDAP was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and is being adopted globally by the domain sector as the leading standard for registration data access.

RDAP provides computers with access to domain name registration information in a more structured format than existing WHOIS access protocols, enabling reliable machine-to-machine queries. It also introduces security and privacy enhancements. It operates over secure, encrypted connections, supports privacy protections through controlled data visibility, and enables authenticated access where defined levels of information can be made available to authorised users such as registrars, enforcement bodies and government agencies. This supports legitimate access to select registration data while protecting personal information such as postal addresses and phone numbers.

Industry professionals will continue to be able to access domain name registration information using the existing port-43 WHOIS protocol alongside RDAP, which are available at these service end-points:

• The new RDAP interface at https://rdap.cctld.au/rdap/
• The TCP port-43 WHOIS interface at whois.auda.org.au using the WHOIS protocol (RFC 3912)
• The TCP port-43 WHOIS at domaincheck.auda.org.au to check domain name availability.

This provides industry professionals the opportunity to transition tools for querying .au domain names to RDAP.

Members of the public can access domain name registration information using their web browsers at:

• A web-based RDAP lookup at https://about.rdap.org/
• The ICANN Registration data lookup tool at: https://lookup.icann.org/en
• The .au WHOIS tool at https://www.auda.org.au/au-domain-names/au-tools/au-whois/
• The Domain Name Availability Check tool at: https://domaincheck.cctld.au/.

ENDS

RDAP and TCP port-43 WHOIS provide an interface to the .au WHOIS service, which is a public, online directory of .au registry information. Providing industry professionals and members of the public the ability to access selected registration data, such as the legal entity that holds a .au domain name licence and their eligibility status, helps support the transparency and integrity of the domain name system (DNS).

For those looking to register a .au domain name and find out whether a specific name is available, use the domain name search on the auDA website.