auDA CEO Rosemary Sinclair talks to ABC Radio Brisbane's Rebecca Levingston about the introduction of .au direct names in March 2022.
Rebecca Levingston:
You know when you go to a website at the end of the address there's .com, or .net, org. What does it all actually mean? And did you know that next year there's actually a new type of domain being added to the mix, simply .au. Rosemary Sinclair is the CEO of au Domain Administration Limited, who develop the rules for domain names. Rosemary, good morning.
Rosemary Sinclair:
Good morning, Rebecca.
Rebecca Levingston:
Why do we need a just plain .au?
Rosemary Sinclair:
Really to keep up with the innovation that we're seeing in the economy and Australian society, and none more so than during the last eighteen months of COVID we've seen people rush online to do all sorts of things they never imagined they'd be doing online, doing that really effectively. And while we've been planning this change since 2015, I think our timings pretty good in launching it next year.
Rebecca Levingston:
Okay, so in the works since 2015 to have, you know website.au, so no need for the .com. What do the different domain names mean, .gov .edu .asn?
Rosemary Sinclair:
Look like they really signify the sort of organisation that is operating, online, in the big .au domain. And if you think about .au domain as Australia's part of the Internet, we're the little organisation that runs that in a technical sense, and in a policy sense, on behalf of all Australians and for the benefit of all Australians.
Rebecca Levingston:
So are you a commercial business then?
Rosemary Sinclair:
No, we're a not for profit, a for-purpose organisation, a little company limited by guarantee. And we've really got that purpose at the forefront of our minds all the time – to do what we do for the benefit of Australians.
Rebecca Levingston:
Because, Rosemary, a lot of businesses purchased several domain endings, don't they, they might be, they might have purchased .com and also .com.au. Will they now have to purchase .au as well?
Rosemary Sinclair:
They don't have to Rebecca it's really entirely up to the businesses, whether they choose to. And of course one of the things we work very hard at is keeping the price of domain names in Australia very, very low, which they are by world standards.
Rebecca Levingston:
Are they? How much does a domain name cost?
Rosemary Sinclair:
It can depend on how you bundle other services with it. But sub $20 is the cost of the domain name itself.
Rebecca Levingston:
Oh right, it's a bargain, you just got to get in quickly so that you, you know, get the name that you want. Will existing businesses get first dibs on .au?
Rosemary Sinclair:
Yes, and just to allay people's concerns we've actually created a period of six months for people to apply for the matching .au direct name, if they've got an existing name in .au, whether it's .com.au or .org.au. So there'll be plenty of time and plenty of communication beforehand. But if you don't want to get the new name, you don't have to, and your existing name will be just fine as long as your registration details are up to date.
Rebecca Levingston:
Yeah, do you have to prove that you're an Australian business like do you have to be based in Australia to get .au as your domain name ending?
Rosemary Sinclair:
The key issue for getting a .au domain is that you have a valid presence in Australia. And that's the key way that we make the .au domain safe for all Australian users, and other Internet users. Having a presence in Australia means you're subject to Australian laws so that's critical, absolutely critical.
Rebecca Levingston:
Fascinating. Rosemary, so good to chat this morning. Thank you.
Rosemary Sinclair:
Pleasure Rebecca. Bye.
Rebecca Levingston:
Rosemary Sinclair, the CEO of au Domain Administration.
Ends