auDA has recently announced that Australians will be able to register domain names directly in the TLD .AU as of 24 March 2022. Up to now, only third-level domain names, such as .COM.AU, .NET.AU and .ORG.AU, could be registered in the Australian namespace.
auDA CEO said of the .AU launch, “I am delighted to announce .au direct will be available from March 2022, providing consumers the opportunity to licence shorter, eye-catching names and bringing Australia in line with most other country code Top Level Domains including the United Kingdom (.uk), Canada (.ca), the USA (.us) and New Zealand (.nz).”
There will be a Priority Allocation period for .AU running between 24 March and 24 September 2022 during which time the holders of existing third-level domain names will be able to apply for Priority Status for their domain names.
-Anchovy News, September 2021