AU Direct Registrations and Applications

The Priority Allocation Process closes at 9:59AM AEST on 20 September 2022. Contact Futurised to apply.

.au direct domain names – like getyour.au – will be available as a new option for Australian domain owners from 24 March 2022. Separately, the Australian Government is currently reviewing the terms on which it endorses auDA as the administrator of the .au ccTLD.

The introduction of the .au namespace will bring Australia in line with countries that already have Top Level Domains, including the United Kingdom (.uk), Canada (.ca), the USA (.us) and New Zealand.

.au direct names are general purpose – they’re open to anyone with a verified connection to Australia who wants to create or manage an online presence for themselves or their organisation.

If you currently hold a domain name in any other .au namespace (eg. com.au, id.au etc.), you’ll be able to apply for Priority Status to register its exact match in .au direct during the six-month period from launch.

Exact match

When .au direct names launch on 24 March 2022, all names in the registry prior to launch will be reserved from being registered as .au names for the six-month Priority Allocation Period.

Registrants of existing .au names will then have six months to apply for Priority Status to register the .au direct match of their name, if they would like to licence it.

For example, the registrant of getyour.com.au can apply for priority to register getyour.au.

Contested name (you and competitor both hold a .*.au)

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

If there are no applications for a reserved .au direct from an eligible registrant name during the six-month Priority Allocation Period, that name will become available to the public on a first come, first served basis at the close of the Priority Allocation Period.

Uncontested names (you are the only holder of an existing .*.au)

In most cases there is only one registrant who can apply for a reserved .au direct name as they are the only holder of its match in another .au namespace. This is referred to as an uncontested name.

In these cases, the applicant will be allocated the name on an initial one-year licence shortly after applying for Priority Status.

The .au direct priority allocation process

Existing registrants of other .au domain names will have the chance to apply for the .au direct exact match of their names via the priority allocation process.

The licence for such domain names will be allocated according to two priority categories, which are determined by the existing domain creation date:

• Priority category 1 – Registered on or before 4 Feb 2018
• Priority category 2 – Registered after 4 Feb 2018 and before 24 Mar 2022

After the priority process is finished not all .AU license disputes are guaranteed to be finalised.

Priority Token retrieval or Decline to Apply

If you directly manage your domain with your own registrar account, visit auDA to request the domain priority token at https://priority.auda.org.au (registrant will receive an email).

The token will be emailed to the registrant email address associated with the domain name.

Alternatively you can use the priority status tool to check the status.

https://www.auda.org.au/tools/priority-status-tool

What is the benefit of .au direct?

• Shorter, eye-catching and easier to remember domain names
• A wider choice of domain names available in the .au domain space
• Domain names that are easier to type and that display better on mobile devices

What is an au direct domain name?

• .au direct domain names – like getyour.au – are shorter, simpler domain names.
• The .au direct names will be available for all Australian  individuals, businesses, associations and government entities subject to auDA’s licencing rules. Owners of .com.au and other eligible domain names will have priority to register .au domain names.

How do I Register an AU Direct Domain?

• Contact Clint at Futurised to arrange the registration and fully manage your domain for you.

What is the cost?

• $129 plus GST includes the first year of registration, au Direct application fee and DNS hosting through Futurised. Subsequent years are $79 plus GST through Futurised. This covers domain registration and configuration to match your existing domain only. Configuring websites to load via the .au direct domain are quoted separately depending on requirements.

What’s a dot com vs dot au?

• US centric vs Australian centric, although .com is commonly used in Australia, the .au is preferred when you sell products or services directly to Australian people.

Do I need to do this?

There is no obligation to register the .au direct match of your existing domain name if you don’t want it. Your existing domain names will all continue to operate as normal and according to auDA policy regardless of whether you take up the option to register the matching .au direct name.

What next?

If you own a *.au domain name contact Clint and we’ll be able to register your au Direct domain name for you immediately if your current domain is Priority 1 status (registered before 2018), or we’ll let you know of the options if there are other competitors who might be able to claim the domain based on their previous registrations of valid domains such as org.au and net.au.

The cost is $129 plus GST which includes the first year of registration and DNS hosting. Subsequent years at $79 plus GST including DNS hosting.

Email clint@futurised.au or learn more about .au direct domain names from auDA (auda.org.au)