There are eligibility requirements that must be met in order to register or take ownership of a .com.au or .net.au domain name license.

.com.au and .net.au domain names are both for commercial purposes.

To be eligible for a .com.au or .net.au domain name, registrants must be a commercial entity with an Australian presence.

Commercial entity definition

Commercial entity means:

  1. a company under the Corporations Act 2001(Cth);
  2. a Commonwealth entity as defined in section 10 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013(Cth);
  3. a Registrable Body under the Corporations Act 2001(Cth);
  4. an Incorporated Association under State or Territory legislation;
  5. an entity or natural Person issued with an Australian Business Number under the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999 (Cth);
  6. a Statutory Body under Commonwealth, State or Territory legislation that engages in trade or commerce;
  7. a Trust issued with an Australian Business Number, but does not include a charitable trust or a public or private ancillary fund;
  8. an Incorporated limited partnership under State and Territory legislation;
  9. a Trading Cooperative under State and Territory legislation;
  10. Government, being either the Crown or a Commonwealth, State or Territory statutory agency; or
  11. a foreign legal entity or natural person who holds or has applied for an Australian Trade Mark.

Australian presence definition

Australian presence means:

  1. an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident visa holder;
  2. a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001(Cth);
  3. 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);
  4. an Incorporated Association under State or Territory legislation;
  5. an entity issued with an Australian Business Number under the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999(Cth);
  6. 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;
  7. 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;
  8. a Cooperative registered under State or Territory legislation and which appears on the State or Territory register of cooperatives;
  9. 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;
  10. 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;
  11. 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;
  12. an Unincorporated Association formed in an Australian State or Territory with at least its management committee being Australian citizens or permanent resident visa holders;
  13. a Trust where the trustee must be an Australian citizen or the trustee is an Australian body corporate;
  14. an Educational Institution regulated under an Australian State, Territory or Commonwealth law;
  15. Government, being either the Crown or a Commonwealth, State or Territory statutory agency;
  16. a Commonwealth entity as defined in section 10 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013(Cth);
  17. 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.

Further details are available on the .au Domain Administration Ltd (auDA) website: https://www.auda.org.au/policy/au-domain-administration-rules-licensing