21 October, 2021

auDA’s 2020-21 Annual Report was released today demonstrating a year of historic growth. Registered domain names in the .au exceeded 3.3 million during the financial year, up 5 percent from 2019-20, and an average of 44,900 queries per second were processed by .au nameservers, up 131 percent from 2019-20. 

This strong growth builds on 35 years of reliable service and operation of the .au domain and demonstrates consumer confidence, with more people relying on it to connect to essential commercial, educational, social and government services than ever before. 

auDA’s Annual Report sets out the significant program of work delivered by the auDA team over 2020-21, including: 

  • The introduction of the new .au Licensing Framework 
  • Implementation of new Registrar Agreements with increased cyber security standards 
  • Successful completion of auDA’s first ISO 27001 surveillance audit  
  • Engagement with auDA’s multi-stakeholder community and at international fora  
  • Planning for the introduction of .au direct, Australia’s newest namespace to support innovation in the .au domain. 

Over the reporting period, auDA also worked towards finalising its 2021-25 Proposed Strategy, which will drive the organisation’s future focus on: 

  • Building trust by strengthening the security and integrity of the .au domain 
  • Promoting innovation in the Internet ecosystem to benefit Australians 
  • Championing multi-stakeholder Internet governance by increasing our engagement with stakeholders domestically and internationally.  

auDA Chair, Alan Cameron AO, said that auDA’s work throughout 2020-21 demonstrated its commitment to building on the 35-year legacy of .au and ensuring the stability, security and reliability of this critical infrastructure. 

“The integral role auDA plays in supporting Australia’s digital economy and society is illustrated by our effective management of more than 3 billion queries to .au nameservers per day. At a time of growth and rapid online transformation, we have focussed on critical functions of security and integrity. We recognise these are core to delivering value to all Australians.” 

auDA CEO, Rosemary Sinclair AM, said, “With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to impact our way of life, auDA was proud to deliver a secure and reliable .au domain, enabling access to critical online services throughout 2020-21. We look forward to working with our industry partners, members and community to build on our success and provide positive social and economic value to Australians into the future.” 

ENDS

Note:

Download the auDA 2020-21 Annual Report