Eligibility Rules for .au Domain Names

Learn who can register an Australian domain name. Every domain ending in .au is covered by rules set by auDA, the organisation that manages Australian domain names. The rules cover who can hold a name and, for some types, which names you can choose.

Australian Presence

Every .au domain name requires an Australian presence. The most common ways to meet this are:

Being an Australian citizen or permanent resident
Being a company registered in Australia
Holding an Australian Business Number (ABN)
Being an incorporated association, registered charity or other organisation set up under Australian law
Holding or applying for an Australian trade mark. In this case the domain name must exactly match the words of the trade mark

Rules for Each Type

.au (for example yourname.au) is open to anyone with an Australian presence
com.au and net.au are for commercial entities. The name must match or be an acronym of your company, business or personal name, match your trade mark, or relate to a product, service, event, activity or premises of yours
org.au is for not-for-profit organisations. The name must match your organisation's name or relate to its services, programs, events or activities
asn.au is for not-for-profit organisations and unincorporated associations, with the same kind of name rules as org.au
id.au is for individuals. The name must match your own name, an abbreviation of it or a nickname

Keeping Your Domain Name

You must stay eligible for as long as you hold the name. If your ABN is cancelled or your business is deregistered, the domain name can be suspended or cancelled
Domain names are licensed for a period of 1 to 5 years and can be renewed
Keep the contact details on your domain name up to date so that renewal notices reach you

Please note: This is a summary. The full licensing rules are published by auDA at https://www.auda.org.au

Note: Domain names that do not end in .au, such as .com, do not have these requirements.