Who Owns That Domain?

The short version of your domain might not be yours

When .au direct launched, Australian businesses could claim the short form of a name they already held, so the owner of yourbusiness.com.au could claim yourbusiness.au. That Priority Allocation Period ran from 24 March 2022 to 20 September 2022, and any name nobody claimed became available to the general public on 3 October 2022. Most owners never heard about it and never applied. So the short form of your name is now either sitting unregistered, or registered to somebody else. It takes about thirty seconds to find out which.

Why this shows more for .au than for .com

The two registries publish almost opposite things, and most lookup tools quietly show you whichever half they happen to get. The .au registry publishes the holder's entity name, ABN and eligibility type, while redacting the registration and expiry dates. Generic domains like .com do the reverse: dates yes, registrant no. This tool reports whichever the registry actually provides, and says plainly when a field is withheld, so a blank never reads as "unknown".

Where a .au name shows an ABN, you can take that straight to ABN Lookup and confirm exactly which entity is behind it. That is the same check worth running before you trust any business online.

What to do with the answer

If the name is free and you want it, any registrar can register it, and it is inexpensive. If you would rather not think about it, domain registration, DNS and renewals are part of our managed IT, and every site we build includes them. If somebody else holds a name you believe is rightfully yours, note that holding a domain is not wrongdoing in itself, auDA runs a formal dispute process, and your registrar can explain the options.

While you are here, our SSL and domain expiry monitor will email you before a certificate or registration lapses, which is how most businesses lose a domain in the first place.

Frequently asked questions

Is the .au version of my domain mine?

Not automatically. When .au direct launched, holders of an existing name registered before 24 March 2022 had a Priority Allocation Period to claim the exact match, and it ran until 20 September 2022. Names nobody claimed became available to the general public on 3 October 2022. If you never applied, the short form of your name may be unregistered, or it may be held by someone else. Enter your business name above and you will see.

Why can I see who owns a .com.au but not a .com?

The two registries publish almost opposite things. The .au registry publishes the holder's entity name, ABN and eligibility type, but redacts the registration and expiry dates. Generic domains like .com publish the registration and expiry dates, but redact the registrant. We show whichever the registry actually provides and tell you plainly when a field is withheld.

What does it mean if a domain is registered but not in use?

It means the name has an owner but no nameservers, so nothing is being served from it. That usually indicates a name held for later, parked by a reseller, or registered defensively. It is not evidence of anything improper on its own.

Someone else holds my .au. What can I do?

First, be aware that holding a domain is not wrongdoing, and a similar name may be an entirely legitimate business. If you believe the registration breaches the rules, auDA operates a formal dispute process, and your registrar can explain the options. We are happy to talk it through, but we cannot promise a name can be recovered.

Do you store the domains I check?

No. Lookups run against the public registry and results are cached briefly by domain name only, to keep our query volume against the registries polite. We do not record who searched for what, and we do not build a database of registrants.