What's the difference between a registrar and a reseller?

Registrars and resellers can both help you register a domain name, but there is an important difference between them.

Registrars

Registrars are accredited and licensed by auDA to provide services to people who want to register a new domain name, renew their existing domain name, or make changes to their domain name record. They decide whether or not your domain name application meets the policy rules. You can see the list of accredited registrars here.

Registrars have direct access to the registry data so that they can process new registrations and renewals, as well as update registrant contact details in the database.

Resellers

Resellers are businesses that provide domain name registration services to the public but are not accredited registrars. Resellers do not have direct access to the .au registry. They buy .au domain names and manage domain name records for their customers through an interface with an accredited .au registrar. 

The 'registrar of record'

The public WHOIS service displays the registrar of a domain name (known as a registrar of record), not the reseller. If you're trying to find out which reseller you registered a name with, the registrar should be able to help you.