.com.au or .au: choosing a domain as an Australian agent

Australian domains are managed by auDA, the .au Domain Administration. Its rules decide who can hold which kind of domain. For real estate agents the two that matter are .com.au and the shorter .au.

.com.au

The familiar choice. Most Australians assume a local business is on .com.au, and it’s what people tend to type when they guess an address.

To register a .com.au you need:

• An Australian presence. For most agents that means an ABN.
• A name that matches yours. Under auDA’s current licensing rules, the domain has to be an exact match of your legal name or a business name registered to you, an acronym of one of them, a match of your Australian trade mark, or a match of a service you provide. “Exact” means the same words in the same order, with nothing added.

If you’re a sole trader with an ABN in your own name, yourname.com.au is an exact match and straightforward. A name like yournameproperty.com.au adds a word, so it only qualifies if “Your Name Property” is a business name registered to you. If it isn’t, yourname.au or yournameproperty.au has no matching rule at all. Our guide to .com.au eligibility and name ideas goes through the options.

.au

Direct .au domains, such as yourname.au, became available in 2022. They’re shorter, and the eligibility rule is simpler: you need an Australian presence, but the name doesn’t need to match your business name.

That makes .au useful when:

• the .com.au of your name is already taken
• you want a shorter address for cards and signage
• you want to protect your name by holding both

Who owns the domain? Check the ABN

This is the part agents most often get wrong.

The registrant is whoever the domain is registered to, and the registrant is the owner. If you register yourname.com.au using your agency’s ABN, the agency is the registrant. If you leave, the domain may stay with them.

If you want the domain to stay with you for your whole career, register it with your own ABN, in your own name. If you’re a contractor or sole trader, you most likely already have one.

If the domain is meant to move with you, the details on it should be yours.

How long does registration last?

Australian domains can be registered for between one and five years and renewed before they expire. Keep your contact email up to date so renewal reminders reach you, and turn on auto-renewal so a lapsed card doesn’t cost you your name.

Our recommendation

1. First choice: yourname.com.au, registered with your own ABN.
2. If it’s taken: yourname.au, or yourname plus a word like property, realestate or your main suburb, on .com.au.
3. If you can: hold both the .com.au and the .au and point one at the other, so nobody else can take the version you don’t use.

When you search for a domain in Real Agent Marketing we check .com.au, .au and .com together and check your ABN before you register, so you know where you stand before you pay.

This article is general information, not legal advice. auDA publishes the full licensing rules at auda.org.au.