.au domain names are now available to all Australian internet users!
Registration
New .au domain names can be registered for a minimum of 1 year to a maximum of 5 years. You or your business must have a verified connection to Australia to register a .au domain. This connection could be through residency, citizenship, business operations, or other legitimate ties to the country. There are rules to owning a domain name, but pretty much every Australian can very easily obtain a domain through us. Before registration, you need to check if the domain is available.
Benefits of .au Domains
It’s recommended that all Australian business should have domain name, domain names are cheap to own, and gives your business its own online internet identity that you can fully control through your own website, and by connected email. It gives your business credibility, while giving a you platform to sell your services and products too.
Content Guidelines and Restrictions
.au domains are very flexibility in what they can be used for but can’t be used for any illegal, unlawful, or fraudulent purposes, as outlined in the Licensing Rules. Compliance with these regulations ensures the integrity and legitimacy of the .au domain space.
Pricing and Fees
Pricing for .au domain registration is $19 per year, other registrars would likely charge more, and will force you to pay again for leaving them too! Our prices have always been rock bottom, and there isn’t any hidden charges either. You can check our domain prices here. .au domains can be registered from 1 to 5 years at a time, please let us know how many years you like to register for when ordering.
Checking Domain Availability
You will need to check if the domain name is available for purchase before registering any domain. You can conduct a simple search here: domain name search
Support Services
Once you have a domain name, we can help you build a website on it, setup up your business email, and anything else you like to do with the domain name. We offer full customer support, and all the extra online services your business could need.
Security and Privacy
We only use secure hosting, and extra privacy lock is available on our domains which stops scrapers from collecting your phone and email address from the public whois services. Passwords we send you to access your domain must be kept confidential, as anyone obtaining this can pernmently take over your domain.
Choosing a Web Hosting Provider
Once a .au domain is registered, you can use our free control panel to connect it to any web hosting provider. We would naturally recommend using our own web hosting services, as you will get the most value, secure, reliable and complete service.
Renewal and Expiry
You can own your domain indefinitely, as long as you renewal before it expires. The domain can only be renewed within the last 90 days. We will send you a reminder by email when its due. Note that there are often fake reminders sent by foreign entities. (You will likely lose your domain if you pass your domain password to the wrong person.)
Once the domain registration expires, you have a 30-day period where its status is Expired and the WHOIS status will change to serverHold and serverUpdateProhibited. During this time, the domain name will not resolve any of its functions. A renewal can be processed during this time at the regular renewal cost – unlike with some other gTLDs where a ‘Redemption Grace Period’ charge may apply.
During this period, the domain name cannot have the Registrant Contact information or Eligibility ID updated, and cannot be transferred either. read more
All domains have a legal framework as to what happens if/when they expire according to the Australian Domain licensing rules, here’s a summary…
Pending Purge
After the domain 30 day expiry, it will progresses to an ‘Expired Pending Purge’ status on the registry – the domain will not be able to be renewed, updated, or transferred any more and will be eligible for purge within 24 hours.
During this time, the domain will be published on the official Expired Domains Report. This report is generated once every day and details the domain names that are about to be dropped from the registry. Exactly one calendar day after the domain name appears on the list it will become eligible for purge and be purged from the registry at the next cycle which occurs at 1.00pm (AEST) or 2.00pm (AEDT).
Purge
24 hours after a ‘Pending Purge’ state, the domain will be purged from the registry and will ‘drop’ at the next ‘cycle’, which is at 1.00pm (QLD) each day. After the domain is purged, it is available again for re-registration.
So, in total, a domain will usually become available for re-registration again after 32 days.
Client Deletion
You can request for your domain to be deleted immediately – this process can’t be reverse, and the domain’s state will change to ‘Pending Deletion’.
Policy Deletion
There are certain auDA policies in owning and using the domain, in the extreme event of your domain being in breach of this and not being able to resolve, then your domain state may change to ‘Policy Delete’. We’ve yet to see this occur, but have heard of complaints being lodged with auDA regarding the registrant’s eligibility to hold the domain.
Domain ownership cycle
Domain status codes:
addPeriod:
This status indicates the domain is in the 3 day grace period provided after the initial registration.
inactive:
This status indicates the domain is not activated in the DNS and will not resolve.
ok:
This status indicates the domain has no pending operations or prohibitions, and is eligible for renewal.
pendingDelete:
This status indicates the domain is not eligible for renewal and will remain in this status for 24 hours, after which time the domain will be purged and dropped from the registry database. This aligns with the ‘Pending Purge’ status defined in auDA’s Domain Renewal, Expiry and Delete Policy
pendingTransfer:
This status indicates a request to transfer the domain to a new registrar has been received and is being processed.
redemptionPeriod:
This status code indicates the domain has expired but is still eligible for renewal or transfer for 30 calendar days from expiry date. The domain will be removed from the DNS (i.e. it will no longer work on the internet) and cannot be updated. This aligns with the ‘Expired Hold’ status defined in auDA’s Domain Renewal, Expiry and Delete Policy
serverDeleteProhibited:
This status prevents the domain from being deleted from the registry. It is an uncommon status that is usually enacted during legal disputes or auDA compliance review (auDRP).
serverHold:
This status indicates the domain is not activated in the DNS and will not resolve.
serverRenewProhibited:
This status indicates the domain has an expiry date that is more than 90 days away and therefore cannot be renewed at this time. When the domain enters the 90 day renewal period this status will be removed.
serverTransferProhibited:
This status prevents the domain from being transferred from the current registrar to another. It is an uncommon status that is usually enacted during legal disputes or auDA compliance review (auDRP).
serverUpdateProhibited:
This status locks the domain, preventing it from being updated. It is an uncommon status that is usually enacted during legal disputes or auDA compliance review (auDRP).
transferPeriod:
This status is provided after the successful transfer of a domain name from one registrar to another. The domain will remain in this status for a period of 3 days.
clientDeleteProhibited:
This status indicates the domain is not eligible for deletion.
clientHold:
This status code indicates the domain’s registry will not activate the domain in the DNS and the domain will not resolve.
clientRenewProhibited:
This status indicates the domain is not eligible for renewal. It is an uncommon status that is usually enacted during legal disputes or auDA compliance review (auDRP).
clientUpdateProhibited:
This status indicates the domain is not eligible for update.
ABN: 58 196 482 040