The new .au domains are finally here.

They’re shorter.

They’re sharper.

They’re available to Australian businesses.

Why register a .au domain name?

The new domains are shorter — .au uses less space than .com.au. If you have a long business name, this means you get a little more space.

You might want to buy the .au (even if you have the .com.au) to keep someone else from snagging it and taking a chunk of your traffic with it.

What’s more, they’re for everyone – not just for businesses. As an individual, you can apply for your own name.

Do you own a .com.au or .net.au domain?

If you already have a website ending in com.au, net.au or org.au, you get first dibs to the matching .au domain. You have six months from 24 March until 20 September 2022 to apply for its .au direct match. After that date, it’s a free-for-all, so get your skates on.

How to apply

Before you start, check that your domain registration details are accurate and up-to-date. Make sure you use this same contact information & ABN/ACN as your existing domain name. The .au registry will use these to verify it’s really you who is claiming the domain.

. Go to priority.auda.org.au. Apply for your domain name. You’ll receive an email with priority contact and authorisation codes.

Go to your preferred registrar (I recommend using the same company you use for your other Australian domains), login to your account and apply for a new domain.

At some stage in that process, you’ll need to enter the authorisation codes you received. Call your domain registrar if things aren’t making sense. They will probably know the answers to any questions you have.

Pay for a year of domain name hosting. You’ll need to pay upfront—for example, my registrar charged just under $24 to do this. My understanding is that if your application isn’t successful in September, your registrar should refund you this fee.