What Is .AU Direct?

What is .au direct?

.au direct pertains to any Australian domain name that has the top-level domain (TLD) of just .au such as yourdomain.au or yourwebsite.au.

Why is .au direct being introduced?

Significant surveys conducted in 2015, 2018, and 2019 lead to the introduction of .au direct. This makes the Australian domain name in line with other country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) like .nz for New Zealand, .uk for United Kingdom, and .de for Germany.

The .au direct gives:

• Wider choice of Australian domain names
• Shorter, more memorable, and easy to type website names

This new ccTLD is an additional to the existing Australian namespaces (e.g., com.au, net.au, org.au)

Who are eligible for .au direct?

Organisations, companies, or anyone who has local connections to Australia are eligible. Register your .au direct name with Crazy Domains.

What names can I register under .au direct?

If you are eligible for .au direct, you can register any names you want as long as it follows .au Domain Administration’s (auDA’s) licensing rules and Priority Allocation Process. The name doesn’t have to match your name or your business name.

This ccTLD has no allocation criteria unlike the existing ones (e.g., com.au for businesses and org.au for non-profit groups).

When will .au direct be available?

Registration of .au direct names will start on March 24, 2022, on any participating auDA accredited registrar.

Can I purchase a .Au direct name before March 2022?

AuDA doesn’t license any .au direct name prior to March 2022. However, with Crazy Domains, you can pre-register the equivalent .au direct names of your existing Australian domain names. For example, you can pre-register yourdomain.au if you currently own yourdomain.com.au.

Are my existing Australian domain names affected with .au direct?

The launch of .au direct will not affect any existing Australian domain names. Your domains will still work the same way as long as the registration is up to date. However, due to this launch, changes are made to id.au eligibility requirements.