100% Australian owned and operated
.au direct domains
Register a direct .au — $20 a year, same at renewal
A direct .au (like yourname.au) costs $20 a year inc GST at Chill Domains, and renewal is the same $20 list price. Anyone with an Australian presence can register one — citizens, permanent residents, companies, ABN holders, registered charities and more — and there’s no rule that the name has to match your business.
Type just the name — we’ll assume .au on this page.
Direct .au at a glance
| Price | $20 a year, inc GST |
|---|---|
| Renewal | $20 a year — the same list price as the first year |
| Transfer in | No transfer fee. Free, unless it’s within 90 days of expiry: then it includes the renewal ($20) |
| Term | 1 year when you register; renew for longer from your dashboard (auDA’s maximum is 5 years) |
| Who can register | Anyone with an Australian presence (below) |
| Name rules | None, except trade-mark-based applications (exact match only) |
| Public in WHOIS | Registrant name, ABN or ACN if used, eligibility type, registrar; contact email on auDA’s web WHOIS only. Not your street address, phone or the domain’s dates. No privacy option. |
| After expiry | auDA allows renewal for 30 days, then the name is released |
| Rules and registry | auDA sets the rules; Identity Digital Australia runs the registry for auDA |
| Included | DNS hosting, email and URL forwarding, DNSSEC, passkey and two-factor sign-in |
Who can register a .au?
Anyone in one of the 18 “Australian presence” categories in auDA’s Licensing Rules, including:
- Australian citizens and permanent residents
- companies, foreign companies registered in Australia (ARBN) and anyone with an ABN
- incorporated associations, co-operatives, ACNC-registered charities, unions and political parties
- partnerships with an Australian partner, unincorporated associations with an Australian committee, and trusts with an Australian trustee
- government bodies and educational institutions
- Australian trade mark holders, for a name that exactly matches the mark
Names are first come, first served. Registering as an individual without an ABN? Our checkout’s eligibility form is built around ABNs, so email info@digitalgreenhouse.com.au with the name you want and a person will set it up for you. There’s more in our guide to registering a domain without an ABN.
Do you need the .au if you already own the .com.au?
Often, no. If customers already know your .com.au and nobody is likely to use the shorter name against you, one domain does the job. At today’s list price a second name costs $100 over five years. The .au is worth it when:
- people say or type your address, and shorter genuinely helps
- a competitor or impersonator could plausibly register it
- you’re starting fresh and want the shorter name as your main address
If you hold both, pick one as your main site and point the other at it with URL forwarding, which is included.
What happened to priority allocation?
Direct .au launched on 24 March 2022. Until 20 September 2022, existing .au domain holders could apply for the matching direct name ahead of the public, and unclaimed names opened to everyone on 3 October 2022. That window is closed. Names that more than one eligible holder applied for stay on hold until the applicants agree or only one application remains.
Renewing and transferring
You must keep an Australian presence for as long as you hold a .au, and auDA renews a licence only when the provider is satisfied you still qualify. Your details are checked at registration and again at renewal, and you must still be eligible on the date of any transfer. If you qualified through an ABN or ACN and it’s been cancelled, you may no longer be eligible: the renewal may not go through, and the licence can be suspended or cancelled. A suspended licence stops resolving and can’t be transferred, and it’s cancelled if the problem isn’t fixed within 30 days. You can renew up to 90 days before expiry; our reminders come 30 days, 7 days and 1 day before expiry (they stop if you renew or tell us not to).
No transfer fee. If your .au is within 90 days of expiry, the transfer includes its renewal ($20 for a year); otherwise it’s free and your expiry date stays the same. You need the domain password (auth code) from your current provider, or from auDA’s recovery tool at pw.auda.org.au, which emails it to the registrant contact. Once the code is accepted, .au transfers usually finish within a few hours. Start a .au transfer.
Direct .au questions
Is a .au the same as a .com.au?
No. They’re separate licences under the same auDA rules, so owning one doesn’t give you the other, and yourname.au and yourname.com.au can belong to different people.
Can I register a .au without an ABN?
Yes, if you’re an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or qualify another way, such as through an Australian trade mark. Unlike .com.au, there’s no business requirement.
Someone else holds the .au matching my .com.au. Can I get it?
Not through priority any more. Unless it’s a contested name still on hold, it belongs to whoever registered it. You can ask them, or wait: if a licence isn’t renewed within 30 days of expiry, the name becomes available on a first come, first served basis.