You may or may not have heard by now, but the new short “.au” business domains are available to register.
.au direct domain names – like getyour.au – are shorter, simpler domain names and are available as a new option for Australian internet users.
.au direct names are general purpose – they’re open to anyone with a verified connection to Australia who wants to create or manage an online presence for themselves or their organisation.
If you hold a domain name in any other .au namespace (eg. com.au, org.au, id.au etc.), created prior to 24 March 2022, you are able to apply for Priority Status to register its exact match in .au direct during the six-month period from launch.
WHAT?
Australian website domains have always operated under the “.com.au” and “.net.au” extensions in the past and have been reserved for any Aussie “business” owning an ABN / ACN. Recently however, the auDA (the administrative body of the Australia domains) has released a shorter extension of just “.au” in a move to offer a more simple and unique domain address. Currently, Australian businesses have a “priority” period to register their domains under the new extension before anyone else before 20th September 2022.
So for example, if your existing website is “www.simplemedia.com.au” then you can register for “www.simplemedia.au”.
Why register an .au domain?
What this really means is – once that dreaded date rolls around, ANYONE is eligible to register the domain name if it hasn’t been claimed.
We don’t really know if “.au” domain names will become the new normal, even if it is shorter and more memorable, because .com.au’s are so ingrained already in the Aussie web space AND are reserved for those with ABNs. However, it is smart to claim the new extension, primarily to protect your business’ brand identity from someone else claiming the .au of your business and pretending to operate under it.
We understand that this may not make a whole lot of sense to release the new extensions to the general public, and quite frankly, we feel they should operate under the same guidelines as .com.au’s, but we don’t make the rules and understand the frustration this causes. We feel an obligation to reach out to our clients and other Aussie businesses so you can at least make the decision and we’re here to help answer any questions and help you register what you need.
Our recommended domain register is VentraIP due to there amazing domain administrative dashboards. Once you have set up an account with them, you can invite myself or one of our team to help manage your new .au domain and redirect it to your current website and email address.
FIRST STEP
The first step is to visit this Priority Token Retrieval Tool to request the needed priority codes to verify that you currently own the .com.au domain that matches. This will send you an email (to the email address that is registered to the .com.au) with the link to verify your ownership. You must save these two codes to input them into the checkout of your new .au domain registration process.
Remember, register by September 20, 2022 or reach out to us at Simple Media for help.
Visit the Australian Cyber Security Centre to learn more about the upcoming domain name changes.
auDA links:
- https://www.auda.org.au/au-domain-names/au-domain-names/au-direct
- https://www.auda.org.au/blog/au-direct-webinar-priority-allocation-update
- https://www.auda.org.au/au-domain-names/au-direct/priority-allocation-process
