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ACTION required by business owners by 20 September 2022

Australian businesses have until 20 September 2022 to secure their business name for the shortened ‘.au’ domain.  If no priority status is claimed by this date, the ‘.au’ Direct Domain name becomes

Business owners should review their current domain registration details.

A new system has been introduced by .au Domain Administration (auDA) to allow for access to shorter and simpler website addresses.  Businesses with a current ‘.au’ namespace can claim a priority status (see au-Domain_priority-allocation-process_fact-sheet).

The consequences of not registering your existing business name for an .au address by the deadline would be catastrophic for your business if someone else takes your online name.

Business are at risk of “cybersquatting” – a circumstance where similar domain names are open for occupancy by competitors, or even the possibility of cyber criminals for fraudulent activity.

Eligibility criteria

There are certain eligibility criteria that a business must meet to secure an ‘.au’ direct domain name.

The first of these is if a business is a commercial entity that is:

• a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth);
• an entity issued with an Australian Business Number; or
• a partnership under the relevant Australian state or territory law.

Upon meeting one of the above criteria, an applicant can hold an ‘.au’ direct name if:

• the proposed domain name is a match for or an acronym of the company name, registered business name or personal name; or
• is a match or synonym of the name of a service, good, event, activity or premises provided by the domain name applicant.

It is important to note that a ‘match’ does not necessarily mean an ‘exact match’. This simply refers to the domain name being identical to some or all of the words. They must be in the same order as they appear in the applicant’s personal name, company name or registered business name.

If you have registered a trademark, you should speak to your lawyer if you are unsure about status or options.

If you want to register the ‘.au’ direct match of your existing domain name, you will need to apply for Priority Status before 23:59 UTC 20 September 2022 (9:59AM AEST 21 September 2022).

If no priority applications have been made for the ‘.au’ direct match, it will become available for registration by the general public at 21:00 UTC 3 October 2022 (8:00am AEDT 4 October 2022).

To check your priority category and/or see if there are other registrants eligible for the ‘.au’ direct name you seek, you can use auDA’s Priority Status Tool.

If, after reading this email or our blog you have further queries, please contact your domain provider.