Shorter .Au domain names are now available.
As of March 2022, a new category of Australian domain names has launched, introducing the shorter .au name option. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) have recommended Australian businesses to register for their equivalent .au domain before the 20th September to prevent potential fraudulent activity by cyber criminals.
This new service, .au direct, offers a new Top Level Domain designed for easier entry and display on mobile devices. The change also aligns Australia with many other countries (for example .uk, .ca, .nz). From the 24th of March 2022, anyone with a current Australian domain name (e.g. .com.au, .net.au, .org.au) has until the 20th September 2022 to pre-register for their .au equivalent domain. After this date, the domains will be available for general registration.
Unlike .com.au and .org.au domains, there are no criteria to determine who is eligible to register for an .au domain, increasing the risk of registration by cyber criminals. One key security concern is that holders of .au domains can create .au email addresses, allowing cyber criminals to mimic your email address with .au instead of .com.au.
Securing your domain name
To secure your .au domain name you will need to retrieve your priority token from https://priority.auda.org.au/. This token enables you to pre-register with an accredited auDA domain registrar.
The pre-registration period allows time for contested domain names to be allocated on a priority basis. If a domain name is contested, the allocation follows these priority categories:
- Priority category 1 – domains registered on or before 4th Feb 2018.
- Priority category 2 – domains registered after 4th Feb 2018 and before March 2022.
While it’s unlikely having a contested domain will be an issue, companies who share similar names may face this issue. For example, if you own examplecompany.com.au, and another company owns examplecompany.net.au, the registry for examplecompany.au will be determined through the priority allocation categories. If both companies fall within the same priority category, allocation will occur on a first-come basis.
By securing your company’s domain name, you reduce the risk of cybercriminals targeting your business and help protect your customers from cyber-based crime.
For more information on securing your .au domain name, visit:
Australian Cyber Security Centre
https://www.cyber.gov.au/about-us/alerts/are-you-ready-australian-domain-name-changes
.auDA
https://www.auda.org.au/au-domain-names/help-tools-resources
