Updates on the Introduction of Second Level Registrations and the New .au Licensing Rules

Posted by auDA on 19 June 2019

The auDA board resolved some of the outstanding issues concerning the implementation of second level registrations and the new .au licensing rules at its meeting this week.

Implementation of second level registrations

Second level registrations are still scheduled to be implemented in Q4 2019.

Fee for second level names

The wholesale fee for second level names will be the same as the existing open second level name spaces such as .com.au, .net.au, .org.au etc.

The wholesale price of .au domain names applies to auDA accredited registrars. The retail price is set by .au registrars and their resellers, and varies depending on the level of services provided.

Priority registration process

The draft rules for the priority registration process are available here.

The cut-off date is 4 February 2018

The cut-off date determines which priority category an existing third level .au domain name is assigned to.

Names registered on or before 4 February 2018 are assigned to priority category 1.

Names registered after 4 February 2018 are assigned to priority category 2.

The priority category is relevant to the priority application process for registrants of existing third level .au domain names and can help determine who gets to register the exact match at the second level where there are competing applications for a given name.

Priority application fee

The wholesale priority application fee has been set the same as the .au wholesale fee and will include one year of .au registration.

The wholesale annual priority application fee for contested names is set the same as the .au wholesale fee.

.au Licensing Rules

The Board approved the .au licensing rules subject to receiving further advice from the Australian Government on clause 2.17.

You can read the updated licensing rules here.