Aussie Domain Names 

 Aussie Domain Name Buying Guide 

(Note: if you just want a .com, EzyAddress.com are dirt cheap for domain names, powered by GoDaddy)

.com.au licences are now available in 1 year increments - we wary of any registrar trying to sell you multiple years as a minimum. Prices current at March 2013.

Zip Hosting - $10.48, very cheap, but they will promote their hosting service
Cheap Domains - $19
NetRegistry $12.50 - part of TPP
NameScout $13.72 - I have used these guys, never a problem
Smarty Host $20.00
Crazy Domains $12 - who I currently use - they also have cheap hosting
Digital Pacific $12.45
Planet Domain $25.50
Discount Domains $13.98 with free hosting
Cheap Domain AU $17.48 - run by PlanetDomain
Go Domains $98 for 2 years - site not updated in years
Melbourne IT - the main registrar $140 for 2 years...
Instra $37
Domain Registration Services - $127 for 2 years
WebExpress $180-$390

Used Domains at NetFleet - it is now legit to sell .au domain names to others!

 Who should I choose? 

I use NameScout and Crazy Domains, purely based on price, and they have been very good.

Melbourne IT was once the only place you could get .com.au domains from - they are certainly not going to go bankrupt. Many of the other registrars don't appeal to me, because they failed to drop their prices when their base cost halved mid 2002. Will they still be around in 2 years time?

 How does it work? 

You can own a generic .com domain name in a matter of minutes, but a .com.au domain can not be registered by just anyone - they are restricted to legitimate Australian businesses. Because the names are approved manually this procedure takes time and costs much more.

.com.au

Registrants must be:

a) an Australian registered company; or

b) trading under a registered business name in any Australian State or
Territory; or

c) an Australian partnership or sole trader; or

d) a foreign company licensed to trade in Australia; or

e) an owner of an Australian Registered Trade Mark; or

f) an applicant for an Australian Registered Trade Mark(1); or

g) an association incorporated in any Australian State or Territory; or

h) an Australian commercial statutory body.

Domain names must:

a) exactly match:

(i) the registrant's company, business, trading, association or statutory body name; or
(ii) the words comprising the registrant’s Australian Registered Trade Mark or application for an
Australian Registered Trade Mark; or

b) be an acronym or abbreviation of 2a) (i) or (ii); or

c) be otherwise closely and substantially connected to the registrant, because the domain name refers to.
(i) a product that the registrant manufactures or sells; or
(ii) a service that the registrant provides; or
(iii) an event that the registrant organises or sponsors; or
(iv) an activity that the registrant facilitates, teaches or trains; or
(v) a venue that the registrant operates; or
(vi) a profession that the registrant's employees practise.

The above is from the .au Domain Administration website.

 Then why would I want a .com.au domain name? 

Well, if the name you want is already taken as a regular .com, then .com.au is an alternative option.

It also identifies your site as being Australian. Internet users are now realising that there are few rip-off/scam/pornographic web sites that end in .com.au. They are legitimate business sites.

You should try to get your domain sooner rather than later, for they are selling fast. As of 2012 there were over 2 million.com.au domain names.

 Other .au extensions

.org.au - organisations
.gov.au - federal, state and local government bodies
.net.au - network infrastructure and ISPs
.asn.au - associations
.edu.au - educational institutions
.id.au - individual people - $30 for 2 years, includes an email service. Very worthwhile. Get your name first!
.conf.au - for conferences and events requiring a temporary domain name

• More of these, as well as their individual rules, can be found at http://www.aunic.net
• Buy your id.au, org.au & asn.au from NameScout - great prices and service

 Need to register a business name? 

It's okay to be a foreign person or business, but you need a physical Australian address (a PO Box will not be good enough).

To see if the name you want is available, do a search at the ASIC National Name Database

Then apply to the appropriate office for you state:

 An alternative 

There also exists the .au.com sub-domain. When you consider that it costs them almost nothing to provide these sub-domains (just like Yahoo can set up mail.yahoo.com, news.yahoo.com) - they are very expensive. They are also confusing, and I do not recommend them (unless you cannot legally acquire a .com.au).