New licensing rules for .AU domain names

Written by Mark Enrega on Monday, February 1, 2021

The administrator of Australia's .au top level domain, auDA, has announced a new set of rules for the .au country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD). The changes will come into affect from 12 April 2021 and they affect the eligibility of:

  • .com.au, and .net.au domain names that are registered against a Trademark; and,
  • .org.au domain names not registered against Australian Charities and Not For Profit Commission (ACNC).

All domain names in the .au ccTLD registered, transferred, or renewed on or after 12 April 2021 will be subject to the new licensing rules. It is important to note that the changes do not automatically impact all .au domain names.

The main changes for the .com.au and .net.au domain names are about:

  • using a trade mark to meet the Australian presence test;
  • the expanded definition of a corporate entity; and,
  • the related bodies corporate rule.

To be eligible to register an .org.au domain name you must be a not-for-profit organisation. The definition of a not-for-profit organisation has been updated.

Find out more on the following pages found on the auDA website: