The 6 months after March 24 is known as the Priority Application Period.
If you already have registered domains which are com.au, net.au, org.au, id.au, gov.au or edu.au you qualify to participate in the Priority Allocation Process.
After the 6-month Priority Allocation Period expires, any “reserved” .au direct names which have not been applied for by an eligible registrant, become available to the general public on a first come, first served basis.
It’s important to note this does not affect your current domains.
A quick refresher on Domain Names
Domain names are a primary element of your digital presence, controlling access to your company’s website, blogs, emails, and your digital footprint.
Many businesses own multiple domain names, which may be in active use, or just registered and “parked”. This prevents cyber squatters, counterfeiters, pirates, or phishing websites from hijacking your brand to scam customers.
It is also common for businesses to protect their brand’s future growth by registering relevant Top Level Domains (TLD) such as .com, com.au., or co.nz
Don’t we already have .au Domain Names?
No, while your website’s address might currently be mywebsite.com.au the new .au domain names will be without the .com and simply be mywebsite.au. This will be the first time Australia will have the option of .au domain names. This brings us in line with other countries already using country code Top Level Domains such as the USA (.us), Canada (.ca), the United Kingdom (.uk), and New Zealand (.nz).
The new .au sites will function the same as other domains (com.au, org.au, net.au etc) and as stated above, your current domain will continue to function as usual.
It’s all about brand reputation, consumer protection and cyber security
If you already own the com.au, net.au or other second level .au domain names, we urge you to register the identical .au domain name. This will stop third parties from registering and using your existing domain name with the new .au extension.
Domain squatting is where hijackers register versions of your domain name to send traffic to a malicious site that mirrors yours. Registering all possible versions of your domain will help to safeguard against this.
Register Your .au Domain Names with Vigilant.IT’s Domain Management Service
At Vigilant.IT we work with many of our customers to manage their domain names and certificates and ensure these are renewed and registered as required. We will be reaching out to those customers directly over the coming weeks.
Whether we currently assist with your domain management or not, we are happy to help you in 2 ways:
- Conduct an audit and assessment of all your current and parked domains, and
- Undertake to register any new domains you identify as required.
If you would like to discuss how we can help, just reach out to us at sales@vigilant.it or speak directly with our sales and account management team at 1300 148 588
