To hold a .com.au you need an Australian connection (usually an ABN), a name that relates to your business, and your business listed as the registrant. You renew every one to five years through the registrar you already pay, and a letter that looks like a renewal invoice from a company you’ve never dealt with is almost always a scam.
Every few months a client forwards us a letter that looks like a domain renewal invoice and asks if they need to pay it. Almost every time, the answer is no. It’s a company trying to sell them a different domain, or a renewal they don’t need, dressed up to look official.
The rules around .com.au domains aren’t complicated, but hardly anyone reads them until something goes wrong. A little knowledge keeps your domain safe and stops you paying for things you don’t need.
You don’t own a .com.au, you hold a licence
A .com.au domain isn’t bought outright. You hold a licence to use it for a set period, under rules set by auDA, the body that administers the .au namespace. As long as you keep meeting the rules and renew on time, you keep it. Let it lapse, or stop meeting the eligibility rules, and it can be cancelled and become available to someone else.
Who can hold a .com.au
To register a .com.au, you need an Australian presence. According to auDA’s eligibility guidance, .com.au names are for commercial entities with a connection to Australia, and the usual ways to qualify are:
- An Australian Business Number (ABN), the most common route for small businesses.
- An Australian Company Number (ACN).
- An Australian Registered Body Number (ARBN), for foreign companies registered to trade here.
- An Australian registered trade mark, or a trade mark application.
You need to meet the rules when you register, and for the whole time you hold the domain. If your ABN is cancelled (because you’ve changed business structure, for example), you’re no longer eligible to hold the domain under that ABN. auDA notes you may be able to transfer it to another eligible entity, such as a new company or a trust you’re the trustee of. Sort this out when you restructure, not after the domain is cancelled.
Which names you’re allowed
Having an ABN doesn’t mean you can register any .com.au you like. The name also has to be connected to your business. At the time of writing (late 2026), auDA’s current rules allow a domain name that is:
- Your business or personal name, or a close match to it.
- An acronym of your business name.
- A match to your Australian trade mark.
- A match or synonym of what you do, such as a product you sell, a service you offer, an event you run or a venue you operate.
So a Ballina plumber trading as “Smith Plumbing Services” can register smithplumbing.com.au. Under the current rules they can also register something like ballinablockeddrains.com.au, because it describes a service they provide.
Changes on the way
That last option may not last. In September 2026, auDA announced that an external review of the .au licensing rules had been completed. One of its recommendations is to remove the option of using the name of a service, product, event, activity or premises for .com.au and .net.au, leaving names that match or are an acronym of your registered name, or match your Australian trade mark.
auDA’s board has approved the recommendations in principle, but nothing has changed yet. Draft rules still need to go to public consultation, and auDA hasn’t announced dates or how existing domains will be treated. If you hold descriptive domains, or are planning to register some, keep an eye on this.
Registrant, registrar and reseller
These three words get mixed up all the time, and the mix-up is how businesses lose control of their domains.
- The registrant is the person or entity that holds the domain licence. This should be your business, using your ABN.
- The registrar is the company accredited by auDA to register and manage domains. You pay them (or someone who resells their service) to register and renew.
- A reseller is a business that sells domains through a registrar. Many web designers and hosting companies are resellers.
The problem we see over and over: a web developer registered the client’s domain years ago, under the developer’s own details or ABN. The business has paid for it ever since, but on paper they aren’t the registrant. When the developer retires, goes broke or stops answering emails, getting the domain back can take weeks of paperwork.
Check who’s listed as the registrant on your domain. The registrant should be your business, and the contact email should be one you check, ideally a generic address like admin@ rather than a former staff member’s inbox. Our guide to who should own your domain, hosting and logins goes through this properly.
Renewals
You can register a .com.au for between one and five years, although not every provider offers the longer terms. When the term ends, you renew, as long as you’re still eligible.
A few practical points:
- Renew for longer if you can. A five-year renewal means fewer chances to miss a reminder. It also means fewer genuine renewal emails, so the fake ones are easier to spot.
- Turn on auto-renew with your registrar, and keep the card on file current.
- Keep your contact details up to date. If the renewal notice goes to an old email address, you won’t see it. auDA’s own advice is to register with your own contact details for exactly this reason.
- Know your expiry date. Put it in your calendar. auDA’s password recovery tool lets you check the expiry date of a .au domain, which is handy if you’ve lost track.
If you register a .com.au and change your mind straight away, there’s a three-day cooling-off period during which you can ask your registrar to cancel it. Under auDA’s rules, cancelling after that window doesn’t entitle you to a refund for the rest of the term.
The fake renewal invoices
Domain scams have been around for years, and small businesses are the main target. The ACCC’s Scamwatch has warned about unsolicited letters that look like renewal notices but are actually offers to register a different, similar domain, often the .com version of your .com.au. People pay them thinking they’re renewing their existing domain, then miss the real renewal.
The usual tells:
- It’s from a company you’ve never dealt with. Your real renewal comes from the registrar or reseller you already pay.
- The domain is slightly different. Read it carefully. yourbusiness.com instead of yourbusiness.com.au, or an extra word or letter.
- It arrives by post. Most legitimate registrars send renewals by email.
- The price is high. A .com.au shouldn’t cost hundreds of dollars a year.
- It uses urgent language. “Final notice”, “your listing will be removed”, “act now to avoid losing your domain”.
- It offers “search engine submission” or “domain listing” services. These are worthless.
If you’re not sure, don’t pay. Log in to your registrar account directly (not through a link in the email) and check the expiry date there. Or forward it to whoever looks after your website. And set a simple rule in the office: no domain or web invoices get paid without being checked against the account you already have.
What about .au direct?
Since 2022, you’ve been able to register domains ending in just .au, like yourbusiness.au. Some businesses registered their .au to match their .com.au. It’s optional. If you didn’t, someone else with an eligible connection to the name may have, which is one reason to keep your business name, trade mark and domains aligned.
This is general information about the current rules, not legal advice. auDA’s website has the full licensing rules and is the place to check before you register or transfer anything.
Your five-minute domain check
- Find out who your registrar is, and log in.
- Check the registrant name and ABN are your business.
- Check the contact email goes to an inbox you watch.
- Note the expiry date and turn on auto-renew.
- Make sure you, not just your web person, have the login.
If any of those steps turned up a problem, it’s worth sorting now while everyone’s still answering emails. We untangle domain ownership regularly as part of helping clients take ownership of their websites, or you can ask us to take a look. If the domain also runs your email, business email and DNS setup is where the records that send mail and web traffic to the right places get checked. For how the domain connects to your website and email, our plain English guide to hosting picks up from here.