{"id":10942,"date":"2022-02-24T13:54:57","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T18:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cscdbs.com\/blog\/?p=10942"},"modified":"2026-02-02T04:48:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T09:48:34","slug":"au-direct-is-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cscdbs.com\/blog\/au-direct-is-here\/","title":{"rendered":".AU Direct is Here"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t
.AU Launch<\/th>\n\t\t\tDates<\/th>\n\t\t\tOrder Entry Deadline<\/th>\n\t\t\tFirst-come First-served (FCFS)<\/th>\n\t\t\tSuggested Users<\/th>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t<\/thead>\n\t
Priority Allocation\/Grandfather Phase<\/td>\n\t\t\t24 March 2022 – 20 September 2022<\/strong><\/td>\n\t\t\t16 September 2022<\/td>\n\t\t\tNo<\/td>\n\t\t\tHolders of existing third-level .au domains receive priority status for the corresponding top-level domain, and will be assigned a category for a Grandfather Phase.<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Limited Registration<\/td>\n\t\t\tMarch 24, 2022 \u2013 Sept 20, 2022<\/strong><\/td>\n\t\t\t16 September 2022<\/td>\n\t\t\tYes<\/td>\n\t\t\tCompanies requesting a new .au domain, where there are no existing domains with priority rights<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
General Availability<\/td>\n\t\t\tSept 20, 2022<\/strong><\/td>\n\t\t\tNA<\/td>\n\t\t\tYes<\/td>\n\t\t\tThis phase is open to all interested registrants. <\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n

As an accredited registrar with the Australian top-level domain registry, auDA, we are pleased to be offering our clients the opportunity to secure one of the newest domain extensions – .AU. This new domain space will open up new naming opportunities as well as a shorter domain name for the Australian market. This means that businesses will soon be able to register company.au<\/strong> instead of company.com.au<\/strong> as their corporate domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This launch is bringing Australia in line with many other countries that offer top-level domains such as .DE, .FR and more recently .UK and .NZ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shorter namespace<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Interesting shorter domains will be popular, and they help with branding and name recall, or used in URL shorteners when marketing in social media and offline media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local appeal<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic has seen communities develop stronger national sentiment and preference for local goods and services. Together with the rise in digitalization and more consumers going online, using a .AU over generic .COM will be seen as more \u201cAustralian\u201d and yield greater consumer approval and engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brand protection<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the case of .UK, the number of domain disputes rose by over 230%, after many brand owners failed to register relevant names in the Grandfather Phases, resulting in high number of third-party registrations.[1]<\/a> For .AU, existing third-level holders can secure their rights to exact match names on the second-level. This leaves brand owners in particular, open to more competition for the same namespace, and should consider securing their rights early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timeline<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grandfather (Priority) Phase (Mar 24,2022 \u2013Sep 20, 2022):<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this phase, registrants with an existing third-level .AU domain name will qualify for the matching top-level .AU domain name. The top-level domain will be reserved from registration by other parties. Privacy Protection is not allowed for this phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n