Country extension · Australia
.au domain name
What you need to know about .au: who can register it, which details are required and how transferring works.
Specifications
The key details of .au
- Country
- Australia
- Registry
- auda.org.au
- Registration period
- 1 to 5 years
- Renewal period
- 1 to 5 years
- Domain name length
- 2 to 63 characters
- Time to registration
- immediately
- Transfer time
- 2 days
- Renewal on transfer
- no
- Transfer code length
- 6 to 16 characters
- Transfer lock available
- no
- Number of nameservers
- 1 to 13
- Quarantine after deletion
- 30 days
Features
- DNSSEC: yesYou can secure your domain name with DNSSEC.
- IPv6: yesThe nameservers for this extension can also be reached over IPv6.
- Special characters: no
- Whois privacy: no
- Trustee: no
Requirements
Who can register a .au?
- An Australian address isn't required. Australian citizens living abroad can also register.
- If you do provide an Australian address, you must state a valid state or territory: Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Northern Territory, Western Australia, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory, Queensland or Jervis Bay Territory.
- .au is intended for organisations and businesses. Individuals can use .id.au instead.
- You can register as a company, registered business, sole trader, partnership, owner of an Australian registered trademark or applicant for an Australian trademark.
- The domain name must exactly match your name or trademark, be an abbreviation or acronym of it, or be closely and substantially connected to you or your activities.
- The entity type, identification number and name you provide must match each other. You can check this beforehand with the Australian Business Register at http://abr.business.gov.au/.
Additional details for registration
- An Australian identification number, usually an ABN or ACN. Depending on your situation, this can also be a trademark number or a registration number from an Australian state.
- The entity type on which your eligibility for the domain name is based, for example company, sole trader, partnership or trademark owner.
- The name of your organisation. If you're registering on the basis of a trademark, the trademark name as registered with IP Australia.
- The reason you're eligible for the name: the name exactly matches your name or trademark, or is an abbreviation or acronym of it, or the name is closely and substantially connected to you.
- Optional: a registered business name or registered trademark that matches the domain name, with the corresponding Australian number.
Documents
- A transfer requires a request signed by the registrant.
Good to know when registering
- When you register, your details are checked. An ABN or ACN is compared against the Australian Business Register and a trademark number against the trademark database.
Transfer
Transferring a .au
- First, get the transfer code from your current registrar.
- The transfer requires a request signed by the registrant.
- After the request, you'll receive an email asking you to confirm the transfer. The transfer is only carried out once you've confirmed it.
- Start the transfer in good time and don't wait until just before the expiry date.
The transfer code
- You always need a transfer code for a transfer.
- The domain's registrant or administrative contact requests the code from the current registrar.
- Check that the code is correct before you start the transfer. With an incorrect code, the transfer will fail.
Owner
Change of registrant
Change of registrant
- Both the current and the new registrant must approve the transfer by email. If either of them doesn't approve, the request lapses.
- During the transfer, the new registrant's identification details and organisation name are checked again.
- If there are whole years left on the term, they carry over to the new registrant. One year and eleven months counts as one whole year.
- A minor correction to the registrant's details can be made without a transfer. Changing the registrant's name or organisation name does require a full change of registrant.
Renewal, cancellation and quarantine
- You can renew a domain name no earlier than 90 days before the expiry date. The registry doesn't allow renewal any earlier.
- More details can be found in the registry's policy on renewing, expiring and deleting domain names.
More information
Registry rules and links
- Registry website auda.org.au
- Dispute resolution policy auda.org.au
Compiled from the registry's rules. Registries sometimes change their rules; if in doubt, the registry's terms take precedence. Updated on 11/11/2026.