Why register .au?
A .au domain name provides your customers with a strong geographical connection to Australia. Internet users in Australia look for a .au domain when online as an indication that they are dealing with a local company or individual.
There are some specific policies and requirement for .au domains that you should be aware of. For example, the various second level domains are restricted in terms of who can register and use each different type:
| Domain | Who can Register and Use |
|---|---|
| asn.au | For non-commercial organisations. Includes associations incorporated in any Australian State or Territory, political parties, trade unions, sporting or special interest clubs, charities or non-profit organisations. |
| com.au | For commercial purposes. Includes commercial entities, currently registered and trading in Australia, as well as commercial products and services. |
| id.au | For Australian individuals (citizens, residents). |
| net.au | For commercial purposes. Includes commercial entities, currently registered and trading in Australia, as well as commercial products and services. |
| org.au | For non-commercial organisations. Includes associations incorporated in any Australian State or Territory, political parties, trade unions, sporting or special interest clubs, charities or non-profit organisations. |
.au Quick Facts
- .au is operated by AusRegistry on behalf of auDA, the Australian Domain Name Adminstrator
- More than 8 million or a total of 22 million Australians are online.
- A total of almost 1.7 million .au domains have been registered as of March, 2010.
Domain Specific Policies and Practices
Various registries have policies for things like citizenship or residency requirements, and procedures that must be followed for things like registrations, transfers, and payments. You’ll find that documentation and information listed below.
The .AU registry is administered by auDA, The Australian Domain Name Administrator. Tucows (Australia) Pty Limited (ABN 38 144 482 002 / ACN 144482002) is an auDA Accredited .AU Registrar.
Registered Address:
Level 11, 1 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Mailing address:
Tucows Inc., 96 Mowat Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6K 3M1
Policies and FAQs
.AU Complaints Handling Policy
OpenSRS Compliance provides assistance with problems or requests surrounding .AU domains. To file a complaint regarding your .AU domain, email compliance@opensrs.org. OpenSRS Compliance will respond immediately to confirm receipt of your complaint and respond within two (2) business days.
The .AU Domain Name Suppliers’ Code of Practice and the auDA Consumer Information outlines your rights surrounding disputes and the ability to lodge complaints.
Other Information
Cancellation Policy
- Upon registration or renewal, there is a 3 calendar day grace period during which the transaction may be cancelled.
- Outside of this three-day window, you are free to cancel your domain name registration at any time by notifying OpenSRS via e-mail at compliance@opensrs.org.
- Your registration of a domain name may also be subject to suspension, cancellation, or transfer should you be found to violate any term of OpenSRS’s Exhibit A end user agreement, located at http://www.opensrs.com/docs/contracts/exhibita.htm.
Service Level Agreement
- We aim to provide 100% uptime for our registration and management systems, save for planned internal maintenance windows or registry outages. When our registration systems are taken out of service for maintenance or care, we aim to provide a minimum of seven days advance notice and not exceed four hours.
- We publish a public calendar of all upcoming maintenance windows and outages. This calendar is available at http://status.opensrs.com/.
Privacy Policy
- The OpenSRS Privacy Policy is available here.
Additional Registry Requirements
auDA, the registry operator for .AU, has several additional requirements registrars and resellers of .AU domains are required to comply with:
- Reseller must identify themselves as a reseller of .AU domain names during their purchase process.
- Registrars must send registrants the domains’a authorization code upon registration, as well as a certificate of registration. Both of these are sent to the registrant directly by OpenSRS upon registration. The reseller which facilitated the transaction is listed in both of these notifications.
Change of Ownership
- To change the registrant of a .AU name, both documents linked below must be filled out, signed and returned. They may either be emailed to reseller.support@opensrs.com, or faxed to +1.4165385454.