.au

• .com.au – Commercial entities
• .net.au – Commercial entities (historically only ISPs, but the use has been broadened)
• .org.au – Charities and non-profit organisations (historically only for organisations that did not fit in other categories)
• .edu.au – Educational institutions
• .gov.au – Governments and their departments
• .asn.au – Incorporated associations, political parties, trade unions, sporting and special interest clubs
• .id.au – Individuals (by real name or common alias)
• .csiro.au – CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)

The .edu.au, .gov.au and .csiro.au namespaces are referred to as "closed" namespaces, since registration is not available to the general public. All other second-level namespaces are referred to as "Open" namespaces.[10]

According to an annual report filed by .au Domain Association (auDA) in Q4 2022, one in six .au domains were a second-level domain.[11]

The direct second-level domain namespace, marketed as ".au Direct" has been made available to the public from 24 March 2022. The .au Direct namespace is intended to complement rather than replace the existing second-level domain namespaces and to provide domain holders with the option to register "shorter, simpler domain names".[12]

Unlike the existing second-level domain namespaces, there is no restriction on the domain names that can be registered in the .au Direct namespace, provided the domain name applicant satisfies the Australian presence requirement.[13]

In 2019, auDA released a priority implementation policy, whereby existing domain name holders may apply for priority registration of a matching domain name in the new .au Direct namespace.[14] Three priority categories exist:

1. Category 1: Holders of domain names created prior to 4 February 2018
2. Category 2: Holders of domain names created on or after 4 February 2018 but prior to 24 March 2022
3. General Availability: All other applicants

Eligible domain name holders may apply during the allocated sunrise period commencing 24 March 2022 until 20 September 2022. For example, the holders of domain.com.au, domain.org.au and domain.net.au would each be eligible to apply for priority registration of domain.au during the sunrise period.

If there is more than one priority application for a given domain name, priority is allocated as follows:

1. Category 1 applications have priority over Category 2 applications.
2. Where there are two or more Category 1 applications, priority is allocated by agreement between the respective holders, with allocation being placed on hold until consensus is reached or there is only one remaining Category 1 applicant.
3. Where there are two or more Category 2 applications, priority is allocated to the holder with the earliest creation date.

Any unclaimed domain names are released to general availability at the end of the sunrise period.

Introduced in 2004, "community geographic domain names" (CGDNs), later renamed to "state and territory namespaces",[15] are intended to be used for "community websites that reflect community interests such as local business, tourism, historical information, culture, sporting groups, local events and news"[16] of a local community. These domains were initially managed by the .au Community Domains Trust Archived 6 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine (auCD) on behalf of auDA. The funding of auCD was provided from a ballot of locality names in the .com.au and .net.au domain spaces; previously, any locality with a postcode had been restricted from being registered as a commercial domain name.[17][18]

CGDNs use the state or territory's common abbreviation as the second level of the domain. For example, a community based in Victoria would receive a domain ending in ".vic.au", a Northern Territory community would use ".nt.au", and so on. The third level of the domain must be an addressable locality within that state or territory, of the form "townname.vic.au". Where a name is duplicated within a state – for instance, between a smaller town, and a suburb of a larger town or city – the locality name may be suffixed with the name of the local government area, town or city to which it is associated (e.g. "suburbname-cityname.vic.au").[16]

Holders of CGDNs must be "a legally registered, not-for-profit entity; and [...] representative of the local community for the purpose of holding the domain name licence."[16] In particular, commercial entities and local governments are not permitted to hold a CGDN in their own right; they are however permitted to hold membership in such entities set up to hold a CGDN.

As of November 2009, the auCD site claims 91 active CGDNs across Australia,[19] with a further 115 either approved or awaiting approval.[20]

The use of ".gov.au" as a second level domain is for Australian Federal government and for its initiatives, while the use of a third-level domain, being an Australian state abbreviation, is an identifier that the domain belongs to either the relevant state government or a local government inside the state. The ".edu.au" is also split up into state-based categories in most cases.

auDA has delegated responsibility of the .edu.au domain to Australian Information and Communications Technology in Education Committee (AICTEC), which formed a specialist sub-committee, .edu.au Domain Administration Committee (eDAC).[21]

Schools use a domain name that reflect their locale, and these state-based third-level domains are managed independently by the states. For example, a school in Western Australia would register "schoolname.wa.edu.au". Similarly, replacing the bold part of these domains, Victoria would use ".vic", Queensland would use ".qld", South Australia would use ".sa", Tasmania would use ".tas", Northern Territory would use ".nt" and the Australian Capital Territory would use ".act". However, after a change of internet services in Queensland State Schools their domain names were changed from "schoolname.qld.edu.au" to "schoolname.eq.edu.au" ("eq" is an abbreviation of the government department name "Education Queensland"). This is not the case for private schools in Queensland. Often, domains can even contain a fourth level: for instance, a NSW public school might have the domain "schoolname.schools.nsw.edu.au".

Tertiary institutions are typically exempt from requiring state-based distinctions. For example, Edith Cowan University in Western Australia has a domain of "ecu.edu.au" rather than "ecu.wa.edu.au", Monash University in Victoria uses "monash.edu.au" rather than "monash.vic.edu.au". This difference can be associated with states having responsibility for primary and secondary education while the Commonwealth has responsibility for tertiary education; tertiary institutions often having a presence in multiple states.

Some second-level domain names are no longer actively used. Whilst registrations are grandfathered for some, no new registrations are accepted.

• .archie.au – Host of the Archie information service of the early 1990s. Has since been deleted
• .conf.au – Conferences and other short-lived events, now only exists for linux.conf.au.
• .gw.au – Gateways and miscellaneous AARNet routing equipment. Has since been deleted
• .info.au – General information. Has since been deleted
• .otc.au – A mapping domain for X.400 addresses; was obsoleted by telememo.au. Has since been deleted
• .oz.au – Historical domain name for Australian sites. Australia's original top-level domain for use in the store-and-forward Internet messaging system MHSnet was .oz. The top-level domain later officially became .au and those domains in .oz were moved to .oz.au. As of April 2011, many subdomains under cs.mu.oz.au and ee.mu.oz.au are still in use within the CSSE and EEE departments of the University of Melbourne.
• .telememo.au – A mapping domain for X.400 addresses. Has since been deleted

The Domain Name Eligibility and Allocation Policy Rules were first adopted in May 2002.[26] Several revisions were subsequently introduced in 2005,[27] 2008,[28] and 2012 (subsequently updated in 2018).[29]

Under the 2012 Eligibility Rules, registering a domain in the "open" .au namespace required that:

• the registrant must:
  • be an Australian organization or individual, the holder of an Australian trade mark, or a foreign company licensed to trade in Australia; and
  • conform to the specific registrant eligibility requirements the second-level domain; and
• the domain name must:
  • be an exact match, abbreviation, or acronym of the registrant's name or trade mark; or
  • have a "close and substantial connection"[30] to the registrant.

auDA adopted revised rules for domain names in 2021. The new rules (known as the .au Domain Administration Rules: Licensing)[13] apply to all domain names created or renewed after 12 April 2021.

The new rules provide an "Australian presence" requirement for all domain name holders. To satisfy the Australian presence requirement, an individual must be an Australian permanent resident or citizen, while an organisation must either be incorporated in Australia or hold an Australian Business Number (ABN). Holders of an Australian trade mark also satisfy the Australian presence requirement, provided the domain name is an exact match of the trade mark.

For most domain types, the licensing rules also require that the domain name must be:

• a match, acronym or abbreviation of the name of the holder; or
• a match of the name of products, services, events, programs, premises or activities associated with the domain name holder; or
• a match of the holder's Australian trade mark.

Sublicensing of a domain name is prohibited, unless the domain name holder is a parent company of the licensee.

Domain name monetisation is prohibited in the .org.au, .asn.au, .id.au and .edu.au and State/Territory geographic namespaces. Domain Name Monetisation is defined in the Licensing Rules as the practice of "application for a licence by a Person with the sole purpose of selling, leasing or holding the applied for Domain Name to generate revenue." and includes warehousing or acquiring domain name licenses for the sole purpose of transfer to another purpose.[13]

Domain name disputes between parties are handled under the .au Dispute Resolution Policy (auDRP),[31] which was adapted from the UDRP by Philip Argy for auDA.[32]

The auDRP was adopted in 2016, and applies to all domain names in the Australian open 2LD's registered after 2002. All domain registrants and registrars are contractually required to agree to the auDRP under the terms of registration or accreditation, and are bound by decisions issued by auDRP Dispute Resolution Providers.[31]

auDRP complaints are determined by an external accredited dispute resolution provider. The resolution provider is chosen by the complainant. As of 2022, there are two auDA-approved dispute resolution providers:

• the World Intellectual Property Organization; and
• the Resolution Institute (formerly LEADR & IAMA).[33]

A single domain name dispute may concern one or more Australian domain names.

The decision-making panel comprises either a single panelist or three panelists, at the complainant's election. If the complainant elects a single panelist, the respondent (domain holder) may elect to have the proceeding determined by three panelists instead. The decision is made "on the papers" (that is, on the basis of written submissions by the complainant and the respondent) and no hearings are required.

Upon lodgement of an auDRP complaint, the domain name's registrar of record is required to impose a registry lock on the domain name until the completion of the proceeding. This is to prevent the respondent from altering or transferring the domain name during the dispute.

Panelists must follow the auDRP. In addition to the formal auDRP Rules, each Resolution Provider may prescribe Supplemental Rules, relating to their requirements for format of submissions, timing and processes. Panellists are not bound to follow formal rules of evidence, or precedent. However, there are published practice guidelines for auDRP panelists.[34]

To succeed in a domain name complaint under the auDRP, the complainant must establish all three of the following grounds:

1. the complainant has rights in a trademark and the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to that trademark;
2. the respondent (domain holder) has no legitimate rights or interests in respect of the domain name; and
3. the respondent has registered or used the domain name in bad faith. (This criterion is a key difference from the UDRP, which requires registration and use in bad faith.)

There are two remedies available to a successful complainant:

• cancellation of the domain name (the domain name is dropped and returned to the pool of available domain names); or
• transfer of the domain name to the complainant, provided the complainant satisfies the eligibility requirements to hold the domain name.

If a successful decision is issued, then unless Court proceedings are commenced within 10 business days, the remedy is implemented automatically by the domain name's registrar of record without input from the respondent.

Decisions issued under the auDRP are published in an archive database.[35]