Short answer: no. auDA is not changing who can register a .com.au. You will still need an Australian presence and to be a commercial entity, the same as today. What auDA has proposed is tightening which names an eligible business can register. The option to register a .com.au or .net.au that matches a product, service, event, activity or premises is set to be removed. New names would need to match your registered name or your Australian trade mark instead.
Nothing has changed yet. auDA has approved the recommendations in principle, and public consultation on the draft rules is due to open later in 2026. There is no start date. Under auDA’s latest proposal, published on 19 October 2026, domain names you already hold would keep operating under the current rules.
This guide explains what is proposed, who it affects, the other changes in the same review, and what Australian businesses should do now.
Eligibility and allocation are two different tests
Most of the confusion comes from mixing up two separate rules. To hold a .com.au or .net.au, you have to pass both.
- Eligibility decides who can hold the domain. For .com.au and .net.au, you must have an Australian presence and be a commercial entity, such as a company, sole trader, partnership or trust trading in Australia. This is not changing.
- Allocation decides which name you can register. The domain has to connect to you, for example by matching your company name, business name or trade mark. This is what auDA proposes to tighten.
The .au direct namespace, such as yourbusiness.au, only has an eligibility test: an Australian presence. It has no allocation rules, and the review does not propose adding any.
What exactly is proposed for .com.au and .net.au
Rule 2.4.4(2) of the .au Licensing Rules lists the ways a name can connect to a registrant. Paragraphs (a) to (e) cover your registered names, trade marks and related companies. Paragraph (f) allows a name that is a match or synonym of:
- a service you provide;
- goods you sell, retail or wholesale;
- an event you register or sponsor;
- an activity you facilitate, teach or train; or
- premises you operate.
This used to be known as the “close and substantial connection” test, and it has existed in some form since the early days of .com.au. Recommendation 2 of the review is to delete paragraph (f) completely.
| A new .com.au can match… | Today | Proposed |
|---|---|---|
| Your company, business, personal, partnership or trust name, or an acronym of it | Yes | Yes |
| Your registered Australian trade mark | Yes | Yes |
| The name of a related Australian company, or an acronym of it | Yes | Yes |
| A product, service, event, activity or premises you provide | Yes | No |
A match does not have to be your whole name. Under the rules, a domain matches if it uses one, some or all of the words in your registered name, in the same order, with no extra words. auDA’s own example is a business named “Forexample Publishing”, which could register forexample.com.au, forexamplepublishing.com.au or publishing.com.au. That flexibility is not proposed to change.
What it looks like for a real business
Take a company called Smith Services Pty Ltd that trades under the registered business name “Northside Hot Water” and installs hot water systems.
- northsidehotwater.com.au matches the business name. Allowed today, and still allowed under the proposal.
- hotwater.com.au uses words from the business name in the same order. Allowed today, and still allowed.
- smithservices.com.au matches the company name. Allowed today, and still allowed.
- hotwatersystems.com.au describes the service, but “systems” is not in any registered name. Allowed today under paragraph (f). Under the proposal, a new registration would need a business name or trade mark that contains those words.
The fix in that last case is usually simple: register a business name that includes the words. ASIC charges $47 for one year or $108 for three years, according to auDA’s guidance. Under Australian law, you must register a business name anyway if you trade under any name other than your own.
Why auDA wants to change it
The “service” in paragraph (f) includes providing information or referrals. The review found that many domain investors meet the rule by putting up a pay-per-click page of advertising links, which counts as a referral service. Paragraphs (a) to (e) need documents, such as a business name or trade mark registration. Paragraph (f) relies on the registrant’s own warranty, which the review heard is not always honoured.
The panel’s majority saw that as two pathways: a documented one for small businesses, and an easy one for investors registering names in bulk. It also noted that AI tools now make pay-per-click sites easier to produce. Small businesses and members of the public who made submissions mostly supported removing paragraph (f). Registrars and domain investors mostly wanted to keep it.
The panel considered removing allocation rules altogether, as many larger country-code domains have done. It decided against it, saying it could increase speculation, raise the price of good names and reduce trust in .com.au.
The case against the change
The recommendation was not unanimous. The panel voted 4 to 2 to delete paragraph (f), with one member abstaining who later backed the minority. The minority’s published objections are worth knowing, because they are likely to come up again in consultation:
- Paragraph (f) is used by ordinary businesses, not just investors, such as a business registering a domain for a product line or a venue it runs.
- Generic words such as “shoes” or “tyres” often cannot be registered as a business name on their own or as a trade mark, so some descriptive domains would become very hard to get.
- The panel’s own data shows domain investing is concentrated in 3,386 registrants who each hold more than 50 domains. For them, registering a matching business name is a small one-off cost. The minority argued the burden falls hardest on small businesses that do not follow domain policy.
- One submission estimated the cost to Australians at around $30 million a year. The panel did not do its own costing.
The minority’s biggest concern was existing registrants with no transition plan. auDA’s 19 October 2026 update answers that one, at least as a proposal: existing .com.au and .net.au licences would keep operating under the current allocation rules. Earlier auDA guidance had said some existing holders might need to register a matching business name, so this is a notable shift.
The other changes in the review
The allocation change gets the headlines, but the review made ten recommendations. Several of them help ordinary domain holders.
- Renew any time: today you can only renew a .au domain in the 90 days before it expires. The proposal lets you renew at any point, for up to 5 years at a time.
- Longer safety nets: the cooling-off period for a new registration goes from 3 to 5 days. Cancelled domains get one consistent 30-day redemption period, replacing today’s 3-day and 14-day periods. The hold before an expired name is purged goes from 1 day to 5.
- Clearer renewal notices: registrars would have to send multiple plain-language notices before a domain is suspended, cancelled or expires, using more than one contact method where appropriate.
- More time to challenge a cancellation: the window to ask auDA to review a decision to cancel a domain grows from 48 hours to 7 days. Complaints about auDA audits would also be covered by the complaints process.
- WHOIS privacy: the rules would explain how to use role-based contact details, such as “IT Manager”, a business address or PO box, and a business phone number, rather than personal details.
- Closing a business: .com.au stays for commercial entities only. Retiring owners would get help moving to a namespace they remain eligible for, such as moving from yourname.com.au to yourname.au.
Some things are deliberately staying the same. Domain monetisation, such as holding, selling or leasing domains, remains allowed in .com.au, .net.au and .au direct. The process for the roughly 3,000 contested .au direct names stays as it is. auDA’s current approach to scams also stays, with closer work with the National Anti-Scam Centre.
Timeline so far
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| September 2025 | auDA Board appoints an external Policy Advisory Panel to review the .au Licensing Rules. |
| September 2025 to March 2026 | Phase 1 consultation, with town halls, workshops in Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, and written submissions. |
| June to July 2026 | Phase 2 consultation on the panel’s Draft Report. |
| August 2026 | auDA Board approves the Final Report’s recommendations in principle. |
| 7 September 2026 | auDA publishes the Final Report. |
| 19 October 2026 | auDA confirms consultation on draft rules later in 2026, and proposes that existing licences keep the current allocation rules. |
| To be announced | Public consultation on the marked-up rules and implementation plan, then a Board decision and a start date. |
Questions still to be answered
The draft rules have not been published, so some practical details are still open. These are the ones we will be watching in the consultation:
- when the new allocation rule would start, and how long the transition would be;
- whether an existing domain keeps the current rules when it is transferred to a new owner, or only while the current holder keeps it;
- how registrars will be asked to check allocation at registration; and
- when the renewal and redemption changes take effect, which may not be the same date.
What Australian businesses should do now
auDA says there is no need to take action yet. A few sensible steps cost little and protect you whichever way the final rules land.
- Check what each domain is registered against. Look up the registrant details for every .com.au and .net.au you hold. If a domain relies on a product or service rather than your business name, you will know which ones to watch.
- Keep your business name registration current. A lapsed ASIC business name or a cancelled ABN can already put a .com.au at risk. Under tighter allocation rules, your registered name matters even more.
- Register the business name before the domain. If you are launching a new brand or product, register the business name with ASIC first, then the domain. That works under the current rules and the proposed ones.
- Update your registrant contact email. Renewal and cancellation notices go to the registrant contact. If that is a former staff member or an old agency, you can lose the domain without ever seeing a warning.
- Consider the matching .au. If a descriptive name is hard to justify in .com.au, the .au direct version only needs an Australian presence.
- Have your say. If the change affects your business, make a submission when auDA’s consultation opens.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still register a .com.au without an ABN?
You need to be an Australian commercial entity, and most businesses show that with an ABN or ACN. A registered Australian trade mark can also be used in some cases. These eligibility rules are not changing.
Will I lose my existing .com.au?
Not because of this change, based on auDA’s 19 October 2026 proposal. Existing licences would continue under the current allocation rules. You still need to stay eligible and renew on time, as you do today.
Does this affect .au domains like yourbusiness.au?
The allocation change only applies to .com.au and .net.au. .au direct names only need an Australian presence. The renewal, redemption and notice changes would apply across .au.
When will the changes start?
No date has been set. auDA plans to open public consultation on the draft rules and implementation plan later in 2026. Any start date will come after that.
Sources
This article is based on auDA’s published documents, current at 20 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.
- Update on .au Licensing Rules Review, auDA, 19 October 2026
- .au Licensing Rules Review (2025) Final Report, Policy Advisory Panel
- .au Licensing Rules Review (2025) page and FAQs, auDA
- .au Domain Administration Rules: Licensing, auDA
Next step
For the full comparison of .com.au, .au, .net.au and .com, read our guide to Australian domain names. If you are ready to register, follow how to buy a domain name in Australia, then check availability on Find a Domain. If your domains are spread across old accounts, transfer them to HSJ Host so the registrant details and renewals are in one place.
