How to Register a .au Direct Domain Name and Claim Priority for Your Brand3 min read

Published By:

Gavin McInnes

Founder of GRM LAW

Key Takeaways:

Broader Eligibility Criteria: Anyone with an Australian presence can register for the new, shorter .au direct domain from 24 March 2022, as the rules are significantly more relaxed than existing .com.au requirements.
Priority Allocation Period: Existing Australian domain holders have a six-month window from the launch date to claim priority on their exact .au direct equivalent before it is released to the general public.
Resolving Domain Conflicts: If multiple parties hold the same name across different extensions, priority for the new .au domain is determined by whether the original domain was created before or after 4 February 2018.
Strategic Brand Protection: To prepare for the launch, you must update your current domain registration details and consider securing trade mark protection to lock up exclusivity and assist in potential disputes.

auDA recently announced that a new domain namespace will become available on 24 March 2022 for .au direct. This new extension will allow you to register your domain name directly preceding .au, for example: mycompany.au or newdomain.au.

What is the benefit of .au direct?

The new .au direct namespace is shorter, cleaner and likely to be more memorable. Domain names represent your company on the internet, they are often the first place a customer will look, and they can be a valuable asset to your business and brand identity. The new .au direct domain name will also have greater availability to more businesses than before.

Who can apply?

Anyone who has an Australian presence or local connection to Australia will be eligible to registrar. The eligibility criteria is more relaxed than the .com.au or .org.au eligibility requirements, which have a specific allocation criteria. This means that a wider choice of domain names will be available to a broader group of applicants.

If you already hold a .com.au namespace (e.g. yourcompany.com.au), you will be eligible to claim priority on the .au direct equivalent to your current name space (e.g. yourcompany.au), during the first six months from 24 March 2022 (known as the Priority Allocation Period). This means that the equivalent .au direct namespace will be reserved and not available to the public during the Priority Allocation Period, to allow the current owner first chance to register.

If more than one person is eligible to register the .au direct (e.g. one person owns the .com.au, and another the .net.au) there will be a conflict, and priority for registration will be determined by the earliest domain creation date – prior to 4 February 2018 (Category 1 – first priority), or after 4 February 2018 (Category 2 – second priority). If a conflict still remains (e.g. there are two Category 1 applicants), the parties will need to resolve this through agreement or negotiation.

Next steps

You will be able to apply for priority status as soon as the new application process opens on 24 March 2022 and we can assist you with that process. In the meantime, we recommend checking that your current domain name registration details are up to date, especially if you are looking to claim priority on the .au direct namespace. We also recommend you obtain trade mark protection for your brand, as this locks up exclusivity in the name, and is a useful tool in domain name disputes.

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For more information, please contact Gavin McInnes on 07 3367 8681 or g.mcinnes@grmlaw.com.au.

The information contained in this article is general in nature and cannot be regarded as anything more than general comment. Readers of this article should not act on the basis of this comment without consulting one of GRM LAW ‘s legal practitioners who will consider their particular circumstances.

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GRM LAW has a wide range of experience assisting companies in all aspects of business, corporate and IT law.

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