Australia domains rules and regulations
Registering and using multiple domain names is a great way to STOP competition from registering a domain name that is related to your business. Prevent competitors from drawing customers to their website instead of yours. Protect your brand and online identity from those who may have unsavoury purposes.
Domains can be 2 to 63 letters. Words can be separated by hyphens but not by spaces.
.com.au & .net.au
To own a .com.au or .net.au domain name, you must be an Australian registered company or a business with a registered business number (ABN, BRN, BN).
To meet the licence requirements for a .com.au or a .net.au domain name, you must be registered for business in Australia. This means registering your business or company name with one of the official government authorities, eg ASIC or the Department of Fair Trading in your State. Or you can obtain an Australian Business Number (ABN) from the ATO.
The domain name you order should be an exact match, acronym or abbreviation of the supplied business registration, or it should bear a close and substantial connection to the domain name.
For example, the Mazda Motor Company would be reasonably entitled to own:
www.mazda.com.au
www.mazdacars.com.au
www.mx5car.com.au
www.zoom-zoom.com.au
.com, .biz, .net, .info, .org
These domain names are not restricted. They are therefore policy-free and anyone can register any domain name.
.org.au & .asn.au
To quality for these domains, you must be a “non-commercial” organisation. The domain name you register should have a solid relationship to the organisation it represents.
For example, the Salvation Army is reasonably entitled to own:
www.salvationarmy.org.au
www.salvos.org.au
id.au
Designed for individuals who reside in Australia. You may register ANY personal name by which you are known.
For example, John Howard would be reasonably entitled to own:
www.john-howard.id.au
www.littlejohnny.id.au
www.theprimeminister.id.au
.co.nz, net.nz, org.nz, gen.nz, geek.nz
These domain names are not restricted. They are therefore policy-free and anyone can register any domain name.
.co.uk, .me.uk
These domain names are not restricted. They are therefore policy-free and anyone can register any domain name.