The .au Direct is the first significant change in the Australian Domain marketplace since 2002

Register below for our Newsletter to receive upcoming announcements and information ahead of the March 24th launch of this new namespace.

    For more information on this exciting launch check out the FAQs below

    When can I register a .au direct?

    You will be able to register *NEW .au direct names from the 24th of March 2022.

    *Names not already registered in an existing .au namespace such as .com.au .org.au etc.

    Names that match a domain in an existing .au namespace will be put on Priority Hold for the six-month Priority Allocation Period until 20th September 2022 to give existing registrants a chance to register the exact match of their existing .au domains.

    Who is eligible for a .au direct?
    Any Person with an Australian Presence such as:

    • A Sole Trader, Partnership, Company, Charity, Association or Trust with a current ABN or ACN.
    • A permanent Australian resident or citizen.
    • A foreign business with an Australian trademark application or registration.
    What is Priority Hold/Allocation?
    Priority Hold/Allocation is the six-month period from 24th March 2022 to 20th September 2022 where all exact matches of existing .au namespace domains are put on hold to give existing registrants a change to apply for Priority Status for the exact match of their existing .au domain/s.
    How can I register for Priority Status?
    You will be able to apply for Priority Status for your exact match with Fluccs (or any other accredited Domain Registrar offering .au direct).

    Please register for our Newsletter above for more information about the Priority Status application process in the coming weeks.

    What IS THE priority Allocation Process?
    Once you have applied for Priority Status of your existing .au domain, in most cases you will be able to register and begin using your .au direct domain soon after you apply for it.

    However, there are some cases where there will be more than one Priority Status application for the same .au direct domain as there may be multiple registrants that hold the same domain name licence in different namespaces.

    For example;

    • Person one is the registrant of myname.com.au
    • Person two is the registrant of myname.org.au
    • Person three is the registrant of myname.net.au

    All of these registrants are eligible to apply for myname.au during the Priority Allocation period.

    The .au direct domain will then be allocated according to Priority Categories determined by the existing domain name licence creation date and the priority cut-off date of 4 February 2018.

    Priority Category 1: Names created on or before the cut-off date of 4 February 2018.

    Priority Category 2: Names created after the cut-off date of 4 February 2018.

    If there are multiple applicants in same category this is referred to as a Contested Name.

    What if I have applied for a contested name ?
    Where there are multiple applications for a contested name, the following principles apply:

    • Category 1 applicants have priority over Category 2 applicants.
    • Where there are multiple Category 1 applications, the name is allocated on agreement/negotiation between the Category 1 applicants.
    • Where there are only Category 2 applicants, the name is allocated to the applicant with the earliest creation date.

    Negotiation between multiple category 1 applicants
    Where there are multiple Category 1 applications, those registrants will need to negotiate between themselves to determine who will be allocated the .au direct domain name they have applied for.

    Applicants will be able to contact each other via the publicly available registrant contact information found in WHOIS.

    Where an agreement is reached:

    • The agreed applicant(s) will withdraw their applications.
    • The name is allocated to the registrant with the only active Priority Status application remaining for an initial one-year licence term.

    Where no agreement is reached:

    • The .au direct domain name remains subject to a Priority Hold.
    • The name remains on Priority Hold until there is only one active application remaining.

    Applicants will need to renew their application on a yearly basis.

    How can I check the Priority Category of my existing domain/s?
    You can check the Priority Category of your existing domain by using the Priority Status Tool which can be found here:
    https://www.auda.org.au/tools/priority-status-tool