What you need to know to keep your business safe and relevant
Members are reminded that, from 24 March 2022, anyone with a local connection to Australia (including businesses, associations and individuals) has been able to register a new category of domain name. These shorter simpler domain names end in .au rather than .com.au, .net.au, .org.au, .gov.au or .edu.au.
This new option for domain names creates opportunities for businesses, organisations and individuals, however, could also provide another opportunity for cybercriminals, such as by facilitating fraudulent activity like business email compromise.
.au direct (e.g. getyour.au) Australia’s newest .au namespace is providing Australians with greater choice when building their online presence. For Australian businesses, .au direct provides short, simple and uniquely Australian domain names, a wider choice of website or email address ending in .au, as well as addresses that are easier to type into mobile devices.
New .au direct names are available to the public via an accredited registrar on a first come, first served basis as they are not already registered in any other .au namespace e.g. com.au, or org.au. If you already hold a .au name in another namespace, you will have until 20 September 2022 to apply for its exact .au direct match.
In some cases, there may be more than one applicant for the same .au direct domain name as there are different registrants that hold the same domain name licence in different namespaces. In these cases, the .au direct exact match will be allocated according to the Priority Allocation Process.
Applying to register your matching .au direct name is optional and has no effect on your existing .au domain names, provided you maintain your registration.
Discuss this new development to domain names and what it means for your and your clients business.
Recorded on Tuesday 13 September 2022
Presented by: Dr Bruce Tonkin
1 CPD Hour