The release of the .au domain will start on March 24, 2022. From then on, the Australian registry will allow direct registrations under the .au extension. Until now, only third level registrations are possible (.com.au, .net.au, .org.au) but that will change from March 24, 2022.

With the release of the .au domain, Australia is following the lead of the UK and New Zealand, among others, who, after years of emphasizing third level domains (.co.uk and .co.nz respectively), also released . uk and .nz.

The release of the .au extension will therefore start on March 24, 2022. From then on, anyone who wishes to do so can register a name under .au, provided you meet the conditions imposed by the Australian registry. These conditions now also apply to a registration under .com.au or .net.au.

The conditions:
– Either have a registered trademark in Australia or be an Australian company
– There must be a link between the domain name and the owner of the domain name.
– In addition, if the owner is not an Australian company, the domain name must correspond exactly to the trademark registered in Australia.

If you do not meet these conditions, please contact bNamed. We can undoubtedly still help you out.

The Priority Allocation Process will also start on March 24, 2022. From then on, owners of a third level Australian domain name will have priority for 6 months to register their name directly under .au.
The already registered third level .au domain names are classified in category 1 and category 2 names. Category 1 names were registered before February 4, 2018, category 2 names were registered after February 4, 2018. This distinction also plays a role during the Priority Allocation Process.

So you have a number of possible scenarios. These situations only apply to third level .au registrations:

1) getyourname.com.au is category 1 and getyourname.net.au is category 2
The owners of both names can claim getyourname.au. If the owner of getyourname.com.au (category 1) submits an application for getyourname.au, it will be granted to him. If the owner of getyourname.net.au (category 2) submits an application for getyourname.au, he will have to wait until September 20th. If the owner of getyourname.com.au (category 1) has not submitted an application by then, the name will be assigned to the owner of getyourname.net.au. If the owner of getyourname.com.au still submits a request for the .au version of this name, this name will be assigned to him

2) getyourname.com.au and getyourname.net.au are both category 1
Both owners can claim on getyourname.au. If only one of them submits an application, the name will be assigned to him on September 20. If both owners submit an application, they will have to decide among themselves who can use the .au version of the name. If they don’t come to an agreement, no one will be able to register the name.

3) getyourname.com.au and getyourname.net.au are both category 2
Both owners can claim on getyourname.au. If they would both do this, the registration date of their third level domain name will be looked at. The person with the oldest domain name may then register the .au version of the name.

These rules for already registered third level names only apply during the Priority Allocation Process. This period ends on September 20, 2022. Afterwards, as the owner of a third level domain name, you no longer have priority to register your name under .au.

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