This document references the applicable policies and procedures relating to the registration of Internet Domain Names within the country code .au, which is the two letter top level code for Australia used by the global Internet Domain name structure.
Newer .au policy information is available from the auDA Policy page and auDA Domains page.
AUNIC has archived its Old policy page (from approximately 2002).
Some notes describing the Internet Domain Name structure, together with a short tutorial on how to configure a domain zone file are here.
The structure of the .au domain space is as follows:
.au Delegated country name space for Australia
.com.au Subdomain for commercial entities
.edu.au Subdomain for educational institutions
.org.au Subdomain for miscellaneous organisations
.gov.au Subdomain for government and semi-government entities
.net.au Subdomain for network infrastructure and providers
.asn.au Subdomain for associations
.id.au Tree of subdomains for individual people
.conf.au Subdomain for conferences and exhibitions requiring short duration Internet connectivity
.info.au Subdomain for major Australian informational and service resources
.csiro.au Subdomain for CSIRO
.oz.au Subdomain for entities which are visible within the ACSnet domain
Each subdomain of .au has been delegated to a designated authority, who is responsible for the administration of the policies applicable for registration within that domain. The following notes list these domain administrators and the relevant policies of registration of a name within that domain.
The delegated Internet namespace within the hierarchy of the assigned Internet country space of ".au" is administered by auDA. The contact point is hostmaster@aunic.net.
The policy for delegation of subdomains of .au is to exercise due restraint in the number of second level domains, and to use a small set of sector and function-based descriptors. Applications for subdomains names directly within .au will, in general, be referred to the most appropriate existing delegated subdomain by the domain administrator.
See auDA Domains page.
See auDA Domains page.
See auDA Domains page.
See auDA Domains page.
See auDA Domains page.
See also id.au webpage for the pre-auDA id.au domains. (This domain is not currently resolving - try instead Internet archive of www.id.au as at June 20, 2005.)
The administration of the .info.au subdomain is undertaken by auDA (through AUNIC).
info.au is currently on hold. New applications are not being accepted at this time. Existing domains can be updated or deleted by emailling hostmaster@aunic.net.
This domain was used to identify major Australian public information service and resources, such as the National Science Week site scienceweek.info.au, the missing persons site, missingpersons.info.au and similar resources.
See auDA Domains page.
See auDA Domains page.
The .oz.au subdomain has been delegated to Robert Elz (kre@munnari.oz.au).
The domain was Australia's first domain and originally devised to register names of those entities operating within the ACSnet network, and continues to be used to register those entities who are visible within the ACSnet network domain. Registration of a name within this domain is only undertaken once the name is visible on the ACSnet network.
This domain is gradually shrinking as less sites are connected to ACSnet.
This domain was used to support a gateway between the public X.400 email service, provided by Telstra Enhanced Services, and the Internet mail domain. It was removed on 17th October 2008.
The .csiro.au subdomain is managed by CSIRO IT Services and Operations. (hostmaster@csiro.au).
For technical issues relating to this domain, please contact Nick Hocking (Systems Programmer).
Administrative issues should be directed to Geoff Morrison (Assistant Manager, Operations).
The domain is used exclusively for registration of entities within the CSIRO organisation.
The .conf.au subdomain has been delegated to Robert Elz (kre@munnari.oz.au).
The domain is used to support conferences and exhibitions that require a named Internet presence. The domain is a short duration domain, delegated to a conference or exhibition for a strictly limited duration.
For registration in this domain, send e-mail to hostmaster@munnari.oz.au with the Subject: header of the mail containing the proposed domain name. Include in the message brief details about the conference or event the domain is to be used for, including its dates, and the date after which the domain will no longer be required. Also include the names and IP addresses or two (or more) pre-configured nameservers.
There is currently no charge for registering conf.au domains.
This subdomain was used to support an electronic mail gateway to the X.400 mail service provided by what was then OTC. It was removed on 8th October 2008.
See auDA Domains page.
See auDA Domains page.