The auDA (Australian Domain Administrator) announced that from 24 March 2022, anyone with a local connection to Australia (including businesses, associations, and individuals) would be able to register domain names that are shorter and simpler and end in .au rather than .com.au, .net.au, .org.au, .gov.au or .edu.au.
Registering new .au domain names
The new .au direct names that are not already registered in any other .au name space (e.g .com.au or .org.au) are available to the public to register on a first-come, first-served basis
You can register new names via any participating .au accredited registrar under the .au Licensing Rules, as long as you meet the requirements to register the domain name.
Registering the exact match of an existing .au domain you own
All Australian businesses who own a domain name in the .au name space (for example: .com.au, .net.au) will have until 20 September 2022 to reserve their .au equivalent domain name, then it becomes available to the general public. For example, if you are the registrant of yourdomain.com.au, created before 24 March 2022, you will have six months to apply for yourdomain.au, if you would like to license it. These 6 months are known as the Priority Application Period.
During the Priority Application Period, the processing of the exact matches will be put on Priority Hold to give priority to the existing registrants to register the exact match of their existing domain names and also to prevent others from registering the same domain name.
What is the risk involved for businesses?
Even though this new category of domain name(.au) allows users to register shorter, more memorable online names, the pitfall is that it gives way for cybercriminals to conduct fraudulent cyber activities. Cybercriminals could register your .au domain name ― if you fail to obtain an equivalent .au domain name for your already existing domain names such as .com.au, .net.au, .org.au before the deadline― in an attempt to impersonate your business.
For example, if you have currently registered mybusiness.com.au, a cybercriminal could register mybusiness.au or mybusinesscom.au and use these domains to conduct criminal cyber activities.
How to protect yourself
To avoid falling a victim to cybercriminals, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) recommends that all Australian businesses with existing domain names register their .au equivalents before 20 September 2022. If a business does not reserve its .au equivalent direct domain name during these six months (24 March 2022 – 20 September 2022), that name will become available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.
You can reserve your .au domain name by visiting an auDA-accredited registrar or get help from Globalnet Solutions Australia.
Who is Globalnet Solutions Australia and how can it help you?
Globalnet Solutions Australia is a leading tech firm in Australia that understands the significance of safeguarding your IT environment.
Our mission is to empower Australian businesses like yours with secure, cutting-edge technology to push through limitations and transform business potential into reality.
Globalnet Solutions Australia is appointed as a preferred supplier under the panel arrangement to supply IT services to the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) and Local Governments.
We possess world-class expertise in a wide range of IT services including services related to website domains and cybercrime.
While we can take you by hand in the process of acquiring a domain name for your business our cyber security services protect your business from cyber-attacks, with foolproof solutions, that work hand-in-hand with your existing technology to ensure that the threat is eradicated the moment you are breached before it causes drastic damage to your business. Talk to us for any domain-related issues or cybercrime!