PART 1 - Introduction
1.1 - Overview
1.1.1 These .au Domain Administration Rules (auDA Rules) have been made by .au Domain Administration Limited (ABN 38 079 009 340) (.au Domain Administration) in its capacity as the administrator of, and Australian self-regulatory policy body for the .au country-code Top Level Domain (ccTLD).
1.1.2 The auDA Rules form part of the terms and conditions relating to a Licence Agreement with a Registrar.
1.1.3 A Registrant and a Registrar must comply with these auDA Rules, as amended from time to time by .au Domain Administration. If there is an inconsistency between the auDA Rules and the Licence Agreement, then the auDA Rules will prevail to the extent of that inconsistency.
1.2 Commencement
1.2.1 The auDA Rules (with the exception of the Rules relating to the .au Namespace, Internationalised Domain Names and id.au Namespace), commenced on 12 April 2021 at 00:00 Universal Time Coordinated (UTC).
1.2.2 The auDA Rules relating to the id.au namespace (paragraph 2.4.8) commenced on 24 March 2022 at 00:00 UTC.
1.2.3 The auDA Rules relating to the .au direct namespace (with the exception of Internationalised Domain Names) commenced on 24 March 2022 at 00:00 UTC.
1.2.4 The auDA Rules relating to Internationalised Domain Names (paragraph 2.8) will commence on [to be advised].
1.3 Objects
1.3.1 The objects of the auDA Rules are to ensure that a Licensing system is established which:
- is transparent, responsive, accountable, accessible, and efficient;
- improves the utility of the .au ccTLD for all Australians;
- promotes consumer protection, fair trading and competition;
- provides those protections necessary to maintain the integrity, stability, utility and public confidence in, the .au ccTLD;
- expresses Licence terms and conditions in objective and not subjective terms;
- implements clear, predictable and reliable complaint processes; and
- preserves the fundamental principles of No Proprietary Rights in a Domain Name, First Come, First Served, and No Hierarchy of Rights.
1.4 DEFINITIONS
In these auDA Rules:
.au ccTLD means the .au country code Top Level Domain for Australia.
auDA Rules means the .au Domain Administration Rules: Licensing (17 August 2021) as amended from time to time.
.au Domain Administration Limited (ABN 38 079 009 340) means the licensing body for .au namespaces.
.au Direct Priority Rules means the rules that govern the process for the priority allocation of Domain Names in the .au direct domain namespace.
.auDRP means the .auDA Dispute Resolution Policy.
ABN (Australian Business Number) has the meaning given by section 41 of the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number)Act 1999 (Cth).
Acronym means an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of a Person’s name, Goods, Service, venue or event.
Association means an incorporated or unincorporated association formed within the limits of an Australian State or Territory, or an Australian external territory.
Australian community means natural Persons and legal entities domiciled in Australia and its external territories.
Australian Law means:
- an Act of the Commonwealth or State or Territory; or
- regulations, or any other legislative instrument made under such an Act; or
- a Norfolk Island enactment; or
- a rule of common law.
Australian Presence means:
- an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident visa holder;
- a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth);
- a Registrable Body means a registrable Australian body or a foreign company under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) which has an Australian Registered Body Number (ARBN);
- an Incorporated Association under State or Territory legislation;
- an entity issued with an Australian Business Number under the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999 (Cth);
- an Indigenous Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth) on the Register of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations;
- a Registered Organisation that is:
(a) an association of employers;
(b) an association of employees (union); or
(c) an enterprise association;
registered under the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (Cth) and which appears on the Register of Organisations;
- a Cooperative registered under State or Territory legislation and which appears on the State or Territory register of cooperatives;
- a Charity registered under the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Act 2012 (Cth), and which appears on the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission’s Charities and Not-for-Profits Register;
- a Political Party registered under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) or State or Territory Electoral Act and which appears on the Register of Political Parties or as otherwise named;
- a Partnership under the relevant Australian State or Territory law where at least one of the partners are Australian citizens or permanent resident visa holders or an Australian body corporate;
- an Unincorporated Association formed in an Australian State or Territory with at least its management committee being Australian citizens or permanent resident visa holders;
- a Trust where the trustee must be an Australian citizen or the trustee is an Australian body corporate;
- an Educational Institution regulated under an Australian State, Territory or Commonwealth law;
- Government, being either the Crown or a Commonwealth, State or Territory statutory agency;
- a Commonwealth entity as defined in section 10 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Cth);
- the applicant or owner of an Australian Trade Mark can rely upon that application or registration to establish an Australian presence, but only in respect of a domain name that is an exact match of the words which are the subject of the Australian Trade Mark application or registration;
- a foreign embassy or consulate that has a representative office or headquarters in Australia and is accredited by the Australian Government from time to time.
Australian Trade Mark means:
- a pending trade mark application or a registered trade mark that appears on IP Australia’s trade mark database;
- words include words in roman or non-roman characters.
Business Day means a day on which banks are open for general banking business in Melbourne, Victoria, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays in Melbourne, Victoria.
Business Name means a name used or to be used, in relation to a business and is recorded on the Business Names Register established under the Business Names Registration Act 2011 (Cth).
Commercial Entity means:
- a company under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth);
- a Commonwealth entity as defined in section 10 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Cth);
- a Registrable Body under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth);
- an Incorporated Association under State or Territory legislation;
- an entity or natural Person issued with an Australian Business Number under the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999 (Cth);
- a Statutory Body under Commonwealth, State or Territory legislation that engages in trade or commerce;
- a Trust issued with an Australian Business Number, but does not include a charitable trust or a public or private ancillary fund;
- an Incorporated limited partnership under State and Territory legislation;
- a Trading Cooperative under State and Territory legislation;
- Government, being either the Crown or a Commonwealth, State or Territory statutory agency; or
- a Foreign Legal Entity or natural person who holds or has applied for an Australian Trade Mark.
Community Group means a group of people who reside in a Geographically Defined Area that has a Geographical Name within the limits of a State or Territory and who provide services to residents of that area.
NOTE: For example: A community group living in a suburb of a capital city who want to establish a website to share information and improve access and connections to services for people living there, such as carlton.vic.au.
Complaint means an expression of dissatisfaction made to a Registrar by a Person in relation to its application of these .auDA Rules, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected by that Person.
Cooling Off Period means three calendar days commencing immediately after a Person enters into a Licence Agreement.
Court Order means an order, direction or other instrument made by:
- a court;
- a tribunal;
- a judge; or
- a magistrate; and
includes an order, direction or other instrument that is of an interim or interlocutory nature.
Company Limited by Guarantee has the same meaning as section 9 of the Corporations Act 2001(Cth).
DNS means the Domain Name System.
Domain Name means a unique identifier consisting of a string of alphanumerical characters registered in a Designated Namespace and recorded in WHOIS data.
Domain Name System Abuse or DNS Abuse means malware, botnets, pharming, phishing, and spam (when spam serves as a delivery mechanism for the other forms of DNS Abuse listed in this definition), as those terms are defined in Section 2.1 of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ report SAC115 (A Report from the ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee on the Interoperable Approach to Addressing Abuse Handling in the DNS) published on 19 March 2021, or any equivalent document which succeeds it
Domain Name Monetisation means an application for a Licence by a Person with the sole purpose of selling, leasing or holding the applied for Domain Name to generate revenue. Domain Name Monetisation includes warehousing and registering a Licence for the sole purpose of transferring the Licence to another Person.
NOTE: For example:
- Affiliate websites where a Domain Name is chosen and developed as a keyword for websites and advertisements;
- Pay-per-click websites where revenue is earned through the use of proprietary advertising systems;
- Domain parking where advertising is published on the parked Domain Name.
edu.au Child Zones means qld.edu.au, tas.edu.au, nsw.edu.au, eq.edu.au, act.edu.au, vic.edu.au, sa.edu.au, wa.edu.au, nt.edu.au, catholic.edu.au, schools.nsw.edu.au, and education.tas.edu.au namespaces.
edu.au Registrar means a Registrar which is authorised by .au Domain Administration under the Registrar Accreditation Agreement to provide Licensing service for the edu.au namespace and edu.au Child Zones.
Enforcement Body has the same meaning as in section 6 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
Enforcement Related Activities has the same meaning as in section 6 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
Exact Match means that the Domain Name being applied for is identical to the words which are the subject of an Australian Trade Mark. The Domain Name must include all the words in the order in which they appear in the Australian Trade Mark, excluding:
- DNS identifiers such as com.au;
- punctuation marks such as an exclamation point or an apostrophe;
- articles such as ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘and ’or ‘of’; and
- ampersands.
First Come, First Served means that the first Person who applies for a licence with a domain name will be entitled to use the Domain Name System with that domain name, subject to its availability and the Person satisfying eligibility criteria.
Foreign Company means a company incorporated outside Australia and which is registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission to carry on business in Australia.
Foreign Legal Entity means a body corporate that is incorporated in an external Territory or outside Australia and the external Territories, and which is not a Registrable Body.
Geographically Defined Area means a suburb, city, town or local government area. Geographical Name means a name that appears in the Gazetteer of Australia 2012.
Goods has the same meaning as under section 2 of the Australian Consumer Law. Immediate Family has the same meaning as section 9 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). Intelligence Agency means:
- the Office of National Intelligence;
- the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation;
- the Australian Secret Intelligence Service;
- the Australian Signals Directorate;
- the Defence Intelligence Organisation;
- the Australian Geospatial - Intelligence Organisation.
Internationalised Domain Name means domain names containing characters not included in the traditional DNS preferred form (‘LDH’).
Legal Name means the name that appears on all official documents or legal papers.
NOTE: For example: A natural Person’s Legal Name is the name that appears on their Birth Certificate or Change of Name Certificate (Deed Poll).
Licence means a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable Licence issued by .au Domain Administration, to a Person to use the Domain Name System (DNS) with a Unique Identifier of their choice. A licence does not create a proprietary interest in the Domain Name System or a Domain Name.
Licence Agreement means an agreement to be entered into, or renewed, between the Registrar and each Registrant which sets out the terms on which the Registrant is granted a Licence.
Licence Fee means a fee paid by the Registrant which incorporates two components:
- a wholesale amount charged by the Registry Operator; and
- a retail amount charged by the Registrar.
Licence Period means a period of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 years.
Match means that the Domain Name being applied for is identical to one, some or all of words or numbers used in the Person’s Legal Name, Business Name or Australian Trade Mark. The Domain Name must use the words or numbers in the same order as they appear in the Person’s Legal Name, Business Name or Australian Trade Mark and must not include any additional words or numbers. The following are not included:
- commercial status identifiers such as ‘Pty Ltd’;
- DNS identifiers such as com.au;
- punctuation marks such as an exclamation point or an apostrophe;
- articles such as ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘and ’or ‘of’; and
- ampersands.
NOTE: A Person with a Business Name ‘Forexample Publishing’ would be able to register forexample, forexamplepublishing, forexample-publishing, and publishing as domain names.
Namespaces means the following: .au, com.au, net.au, org.au, asn.au, id.au, edu.au, qld.edu.au, nsw.edu.au, eq.edu.au, act.edu.au, vic.edu.au, sa.edu.au, wa.edu.au, nt.edu.au, catholic.edu.au, schools.nsw.edu.au, education.tas.edu.au, tas.edu.au, sa.au, wa.au, nt.au, qld.au, nsw.au, vic.au, tas.au and act.au or as varied from time to time by .au Domain Administration.
Nickname means a familiar or humorous name given to a Person but does not include the name of a company, trademark, Profession or Service.
No Hierarchy of Rights means that a Person has no better entitlement to a name in a Namespace than any other Person and that no Namespace is of greater or lesser value than another Namespace.
NOTE: For example, a trademark holder has no better entitlement to the same name in a Namespace than any other Person.
Non-eligibility event means the date from which a Registrant is no longer eligible to hold a Licence under these .auDA Rules and includes the death of a natural Person licence holder.
No Proprietary Rights in a Domain Name means a Registrant has a Licence to use the Domain Name System with a Unique Identifier (a Domain Name) for a specified period in a specific Namespace, subject to terms and conditions. A Person may dispose of a Licence by transferring it to an eligible third party, cancelling the Licence or failing to renew it. A Person does not legally ‘own’ a Domain Name.
Not for Profit Entity means:
- an Incorporated Association under State or Territory legislation;
- a Company limited by guarantee under the Corporations Act 2001(Cth)
- a Non-distributing co-operative registered under State or Territory legislation;
- an Indigenous Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth) and which appears on the Register of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations;
- a Registered Organisation that is:
(a) an association of employers;
(b) an association of employees (union); or
(c) an enterprise association;
registered under the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (Cth) and which appears on the Register of Organisations;
- a Charitable trust endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as a Deductible Gift Recipient;
- a Non-trading cooperative under State or Territory legislation;
- a Public or Private Ancillary Fund endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as a Deductible Gift Recipient;
- an entity that appears on the Charity Register under the Australian Charities and Not for Profit Commission Act 2012 (Cth);
- a Political Party registered under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) or State or Territory Electoral Act and which appears on the Register of Political Parties or as otherwise named;
- Government, being either the Crown or a Commonwealth, State or Territory statutory agency; or
- a foreign embassy, foreign consulate, or representative body of a country other than Australia or an external Territory, that is permitted to be in Australia and is accredited by the Australian Government from time to time.
Occupation means a profession or trade subject to Commonwealth, State or Territory professional standards legislation.
Peak State or Territory Body means a Not for Profit Entity that represents:
(a) not for profit societies, associations or clubs, established for community
service (but not political or lobbying) purposes;
(b) not for profit societies, associations or clubs established for the encouragement of art, literature or music;
(c) not for profit societies, associations or clubs established for the encouragement of animal racing or a game or a sport or recreational activity;
within that State or Territory.
NOTE: For example, a peak Victorian body for sport and recreation is Football Federation Victoria. A peak New South Wales body for community service organisations is Carers NSW. A peak Western Australia body for the arts is Propel Youth Arts WA.
Pending Trade Mark means a trade mark application that has either status of published or accepted on IP Australia’s trade mark database.
Person means:
- a Commonwealth, State or Territory Minister;
- a Commonwealth, State or Territory statutory authority;
- a Commonwealth entity as defined in section 10 of the Public Governance Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Cth);
- a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
- a Registrable Body under the Corporations Act 2001(Cth), which has an Australian Registered Body Number (ARBN)
- an Incorporated Association under State or Territory legislation;
- an Indigenous Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth) and which appears on Register of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations:
- a Registered Organisation under the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (Cth);
- an Incorporated limited partnership under State or Territory legislation;
- a Cooperative under State or Territory legislation, and which appears on the State or Territory register of cooperatives;
- a Natural Person who is 18 years or older; or
- Foreign Legal Entity
A Person does not include a Privacy Service or Proxy Service.
Privacy Service means a service which lists alternative, reliable contact information (such as an address or telephone number) in WHOIS, while keeping the Domain Name registered to its beneficial user as the Registrant.
Proprietary Company means a company registered under section 45A of Corporations Act 2001(Cth).
Proxy Service means a service which registers the Domain Name itself and licenses the use of the Domain Name to its customer.
Public Interest means a concern common to the public at large or a significant portion of the public, which may or may not involve the personal or proprietary rights of individual people.
Public Interest Test means the test in paragraph 2.17 of the auDA Rules.
Published Policies means policies as approved by the .au Domain Administration Board, which are published on the .au Domain Administration website.
NOTE: For example: These auDA Rules are Published Policies.
Registrable Body means a registrable Australian body or Foreign Company under the
Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
Registrant means a Person who is issued a Licence to use the DNS with a unique identifier (Domain Name) and is recorded as the ‘Registrant’ in the Registry Data.
Registrar means a Person that is:
- accredited by .au Domain Administration as a Registrar; or
- authorised by .au Domain Administration to process Registry Data on behalf of Registrants in regard to a particular namespace.
Registrar of Record means the Registrar recorded as the Registrar for the Licence in the WHOIS Data.
Registry means the primary and secondary nameservers and WHOIS servers, a database containing the Registry Data and a mechanism for accessing that data, in relation to a Namespace.
Registry Data means all data maintained in electronic form in the Registry, including:
- Registrant contact information;
- technical and administrative contact information;
- WHOIS Data;
- all other data submitted by Registrars in electronic form; and
- any other data concerning particular registrations or nameservers maintained in electronic form in the Registry data base.
Registry Operator means a Person who has been accredited or licensed by .au Domain Administration to maintain a Registry or to provide registry services in relation to the Registry.
Related Australian Body Corporate has the same meaning as section 50 of the Corporations Act 2001(Cth).
Reserved Names means names which are withheld from the DNS and are not available for registration by any Person, except in certain circumstances.
Restoration Fee means the fee charged by the Registrar and Registry Operator to restore a cancelled Licence.
Service includes:
- a service relating to banking, insurance, and the provision of grants, loans, credit or finance;
- a service relating to entertainment, recreation or refreshment;
- a service relating to transport or travel;
- a service relating to gas, water or electricity;
- a service of a kind provided by members of any profession or trade;
- a service of a kind provided by government, a government or public authority or a local government;
- a service of a kind provided by a Not for Profit Entity for the benefit of the public or a sector of the community;
- a service providing information or a referral to another provider which relates to Goods or services used by the public or a sector of the public.
State and Territory Namespaces means wa.au, nt.au, sa.au, qld.au, nsw.au, act.au, vic.au and tas.au.
Sub-domain means a domain which is part of a larger domain under the DNS hierarchy.
NOTE: For example: 123.auda.org.au is a sub-domain of auda.org.au
Suspension means that the Licence will be withheld from the DNS.
Synonym means a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same thing as another word in the English language. Whether a word or phrase is a synonym will be determined by reference to the Oxford Australian Dictionary or Oxford Australian Thesaurus.
Transfer means a novation of the transferor Person’s Licence and a new Licence agreement being entered into by the transferee Person.
Unique Identifier means an alphanumerical string that comprises a unique identifier, commonly referred to as a ‘Domain Name’.
WHOIS Data means an extract of the domain namespace data which is made available to the public through a WHOIS service provided by the Registry Operator.
Writing includes the recording of words or data in any way (including electronically) or the display of such by any form of communication if at the time of recording it was reasonable to expect that the words or data would be readily accessible so as to be useable for subsequent reference.
NOTE: For example, a Registrar may use an online application form for the purpose of providing Registrar services to a Person, as the data is useable for the WHOIS Service.
1.4.2 Unless the context otherwise requires, in the auDA Rules:
- a singular word includes the plural and vice versa;
- “includes”, “including” and similar expressions are not words of limitation and mean “include but not limited to” and “including but not limited to”;
- headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation;
- when the day on which something must be one is not a Business Day, that thing must be done on the following Business Day.
PART 2 LICENCES
2.1 OVERVIEW
The following is an overview of this Part which includes specifying:
- the procedures for applying for a Licence
- the reasons for issuing a Licence
- the eligibility and allocation criteria for namespaces
- Domain Name availability, reserved name, and syntax requirements
- internationalised Domain Name requirements
- the collection, use and disclosure of information
- the warranties and obligations which must be adhered to by the Registrant
- authorisation code obligations
- the processes for Licence transfers and renewals
- the criteria for Licence Suspensions and cancellations, including the use of a ‘Public Interest’ Test by .au Domain Administration in deciding whether to suspend or cancel a Licence
2.2 APPLICATION
2.2.1 A Person must apply to a Registrar for a Licence and must use the Registrar’s form.
2.2.2 An application must include:
- the Legal Name of the Person applying;
- contact details for the Person, including telephone, email and address for service of documents;
- details of the administrative and technical contacts including full postal, phone and email addresses;
- evidence that the Person satisfies the Australian Presence requirement and any applicable eligibility and allocation criteria;
- the Domain Name being applied for;
- the Licence Period applied for;
- agreement to the Licence terms and conditions; and
- the payment of the Licence Fee
2.2.3 A Person must not use a Proxy Service or Privacy Service to apply for a Licence.
Agents
2.2.4 A Person may use an agent to make an application.
2.2.5 An agent making an application on behalf of a Person, warrants and represents to the Registrar and .au Domain Administration, that they have been granted the requisite authority by the Person to make an application and bind that Person to the terms and conditions of the Licence Agreement and the .auDA Rules.
2.2.6 An agent must ensure that the Person on whose behalf they are applying is recorded as the Registrant in the Registry Data.
2.2.7 A Registrar must not act as an agent for a Person making an application.
Related Australian Body Corporate
2.2.8 A Person that is a Proprietary Company or a Company Limited By Guarantee may apply for a Licence on behalf of a Related Australian Body Corporate, where that Related Australian Body Corporate has an Australian Presence.
2.2.9 A Person who is applying for a Licence on behalf of a Related Australian Body Corporate must record their corporate name as it appears on the register of companies under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) as the Registrant.
NOTE: For example, Company X is the holding company for Company Y and Company Z. Company X may apply for licences on behalf of Company Y and Company Z. Company X may register CompanyY.com.au.
2.2.10 The Related Australian Body Corporate rule only applies to Licences in the .au, com.au and net.au namespaces.
2.2.11 The Related Australian Body Corporate exception does not apply to a Person that is a Registrar.
2.2.12 The Related Australian Body Corporate exception does not apply to the edu.au namespace and the edu.au Child Zones.
2.3 DECISION TO ISSUE A LICENCE
2.3.1 .au Domain Administration will issue a licence to a Person, where the Registrar is satisfied that:
- the identity of the Person has been validated;
- the Person is eligible to apply for the Licence;
- the Domain Name complies with any allocation criteria for the Namespace;
- the Domain Name is available;
- the Person has agreed to the Licence terms and conditions;
- the Licence Period has been specified; and
- the Licence Fee has been paid.
2.3.2 A Licence will be issued on a First Come, First Served basis. Where there are competing applications for a Licence with the same Domain Name in a Namespace, it will be the first complete application received by the Registry that will be accepted. The date and time of receipt by the Registry shall be the sole reference point.
2.3.3 A licence confers No Proprietary Rights In a Domain Name.
2.4 ELIGIBILITY AND ALLOCATION CRITERIA
2.4.1 A Person applying for a Licence must:
- have an Australian Presence; and
- satisfy any eligibility and allocation criteria for the Namespace being applied for as specified in paragraphs 2.4.3 to 2.4.11.
2.4.2 Where a Person is applying for a Licence on behalf of a Related Australian Body Corporate, the Related Australian Body Corporate must satisfy the Australian Presence requirement.
.au direct Namespace
2.4.3 A Person applying for a Licence in the .au direct Namespace must have an Australian Presence, and .au direct Domain Names will be allocated according to the priority allocation process set out in the .au Direct Priority Rules.
com.au and net.au Namespace
2.4.4 A Person applying for a Licence in the com.au and net.au Namespaces must be
- a Commercial Entity; and
- the domain name applied for must be:
- a Match of the Person’s company, business, statutory or Personal name; or
- an Acronym of the Person’s company, business, statutory or Personal name; or
- a Match of the Person’s Australian Trade Mark; or
- a Match to or an Acronym of a name of a Related Australian Body Corporate or
- a Match or an Acronym of a name of:
- a partnership of which the Person is a partner;
- a trust of which the Person is a trustee; or
- a Match or Synonym of the name of:
- a Service that the Person provides;
- Goods that the Person sells (whether retail or wholesale);
- an event that the Person registers or sponsors;
- an activity that the Person facilitates, teaches or trains;
- premises which the Person operates
and which that Person is providing at the time of the application.
2.4.5 Sub-paragraph 2.4.4(2) does not apply where a Person has established an Australian Presence by relying on an Australian Trade Mark, the Domain Name must be an Exact Match to the words which are the subject matter of the Australian Trade Mark.
org.au Namespace
2.4.6 A Person applying for a Licence in the org.au Namespace must be:
- a Not for Profit Entity; and
- the Domain Name applied for must be:
(a) a Match to or Synonym of the name of:
(i) a Service that the Person provides;
(ii) a program that the Person administers;
(iii) an event that the Person registers or sponsors;
(iv) an activity that the Person facilitates, teaches or trains;
(v) premises which the Person operates;
(vi) an Occupation that its members practise;
and which that Person is providing at the time of the application; or
(b) a Match of the Person’s Legal Name, business or statutory name or the name of the unincorporated Association; or
(c) a Acronym of the Person’s Legal Name, Business Name, or statutory name; or
(d) a Match of the Person’s Australian Trade Mark; or
(e) a Match to the name of a trust of which the Person is a trustee.
asn.au
2.4.7 A Person applying for a Licence in the asn.au Namespace must be:
- a Not for Profit Entity or unincorporated Association; and
- the Domain Name being applied for must be:
(a) a Match to or Synonym of the name of:
(i) a Service that the Person provides;
(ii) a program that the Person administers;
(iii) an event that the Person registers or sponsors;
(iv) an activity that the Person facilitates, teaches or trains;
(v) premises which the Person operates; or
(vi) an Occupation that its members practice;
and which that Person is providing at the time of the application; or
(b) a Match of the Person’s Legal Name, business or statutory name or the name of the unincorporated Association;
(c) an Acronym of the Person’s Legal Name, Business Name, statutory name or the name of the unincorporated Association; or
(d) a Match of the Person’s Australian Trade Mark.
id.au Namespace
2.4.8 A Person applying for a Licence in the id.au Namespace must be:
- a natural Person; and
- the domain name being applied for must be:
- a Match to a Person’s Legal Name, first name or family name;
- an Acronym or abbreviation of the Person’s Legal Name, first name or family name; or
- a Nickname of the Person.
State and Territory Namespaces
2.4.9 A Person applying for a Licence in a State or Territory Namespace must be:
- a Not for Profit Entity; and
- a Peak State or Territory Body formed and operating within the limits of the State or Territory to which the Namespace relates; or
- act on behalf of a Community Group residing in a locality in the State or Territory to which the Namespace relates.
- the Domain Name applied for must be:
- a Match of the Person’s Legal Name, Business Name or statutory name; or
- an Acronym of the Person’s Legal Name, Business Name or statutory name; or
- a Match to the Person’s Australian Trade Mark; or
- if a Community Group, the Geographical Name of the place in which the community resides.
2.4.10 A Person who is a Not for Profit Entity can apply for and hold a licence on behalf of a Community Group that is not a Peak State or Territory Body.
edu.au Namespace
2.4.11 A Person applying for a Licence in the edu.au Namespace or an edu.au Child Zone must satisfy the eligibility and allocation rules in Schedule A of these auDA Rules.
2.4.12 A reference to edu.au Namespace in these auDA Rules should be read as including the
edu.au Child Zones, unless otherwise specified.
Prohibition on Domain Name Monetisation
2.4.13 Domain Name Monetisation is prohibited in the org.au, asn.au, id.au, edu.au and the State and Territory Namespaces.
2.4.14 A Person must not apply for a Licence in the org.au, asn.au, edu.au and the State and Territory Namespaces for the sole purpose of Transferring that Licence to another Person.
2.5 DOMAIN NAME AVAILABILITY
2.5.1 A Domain Name will be available where:
- it is not already registered as a Domain Name in the Namespace applied for;
- it is not a Reserved Name; and
- it complies with the syntax criteria for Domain Names in the Namespace.
2.5.2 A Person must not apply to register a name which is deceptively similar to a Namespace in the .au ccTLD.
2.5.3 A Domain Name is deceptively similar to a Namespace if it so nearly resembles that Namespace that it is likely to deceive or cause confusion to users of the Internet.
2.5.4 A name is deceptively similar to a Namespace, where the name omits or repeats a letter contained in the name of a second level Namespace in the .au ccTLD.
NOTE: For example: comm.au is deceptively similar to the name of the com.au namespace and co.au is also deceptively similar to com.au.
2.6 RESERVED NAMES
2.6.1 The following categories of reserved Domain Names are not available to be registered as a domain name:
- a word, Acronym or abbreviation that is restricted or prohibited under an Australian law;
- a name or abbreviation of an Australian state or territory, including the word ‘Australia’; or
2.6.2 names that may pose a risk to the security, stability and integrity of the .au and global Domain Name System. A Person may apply for the registration of a Domain Name whose use is prohibited under Australian law, if:
- the Person is a statutory authority for whom the name has been restricted for
- their use;
- the Person has Ministerial consent to use the name and a copy of that consent is provided to .au Domain Administration; or
- the Person is not captured by the relevant prohibition.
2.6.3 The registration of a Reserved Name may result in the Suspension or cancellation of a Licence depending upon the circumstances.
2.6.4 .au Domain Administration may reserve names:
- that pose a risk to the operational security, integrity and utility of the .au domain;
- where it is necessary for the proper administration of government; and
- for future use by the administrator of the .au ccTLD for operational purposes or as second level domains.
NOTE: The names specified under subparagraph 2.6.4(2) may be used to provide official services as the administrator of .au ccTLD.
2.6.5 .au Domain Administration must not approve any name for use as a future second level domain where the name is already registered in the .au Namespace.
2.6.6 .au Domain Administration must publish all the names which are proposed to be reserved for future use on the .au Domain Administration website for a minimum period of 21 calendar days.
2.6.7