---
id: "2fa4f5f7-41c8-429e-b832-47249953977b"
kind: "link"
title: "Registrars ask auDA to reverse Australian .com.au eligibility change"
language: "en"
section: "cctld"
date: "2026-10-15T16:39:37Z"
updated: "2026-10-15T16:39:37Z"
canonical: "https://tldlog.com/l/registrars-ask-auda-reverse-australian-com-au-eligibility/"
origin: "master"
translations:
  es: "https://tldlog.com/es/l/registradores-piden-auda-revertir-cambio-elegibilidad-com-au/"
  de: "https://tldlog.com/de/l/registrare-bitten-auda-aenderung-berechtigung-australische/"
  fr: "https://tldlog.com/fr/l/bureaux-enregistrement-demandent-auda-annuler-changement/"
  it: "https://tldlog.com/it/l/registrar-chiedono-ad-auda-annullare-modifica-requisiti-nomi/"
  pt-BR: "https://tldlog.com/pt/l/registradores-pedem-auda-que-reverta-mudanca-regras/"
  ru: "https://tldlog.com/ru/l/registratory-prosyat-auda-otmenit-izmenenie-usloviy/"
  zh-Hans: "https://tldlog.com/zh/l/zhuce-fuwu-jigou-auda-chexiao/"
source:
  name: "Domain Name Wire"
  url: "https://domainnamewire.com/2026/10/15/domain-registrars-push-back-on-australian-domain-name-changes/"
  language: "en-US"
  date: "2026-10-15T15:38:38Z"
---

# Registrars ask auDA to reverse Australian .com.au eligibility change

## in plain words

Companies that sell website names in Australia want a change reversed. The change would stop many people and businesses from registering .com.au and .net.au names unless the name matches their business, trademark, or personal name. The companies say this could cancel many names already in use.

Ten registrars have written to the auDA board, the body that runs the .au domain space, asking it to undo a decision that would sharply restrict who can obtain .com.au and .net.au names. The board had already approved a recommendation from a policy panel to drop the existing requirement that a registrant have a close link to Australia for third-level .au names.

Under the revised rules, a business or person could register these names only if the name matches a registered business name, a trademark, or a personal name. One panel member voted against the change.

The registrars estimate that the new rules could eliminate between 50% and 80% of the 3.5 million existing registered domains. They argue the rules fail to match everyday business practice. In their view, companies use domains to run campaigns, send customers to specific products, host platforms separate from their main websites, offer short email addresses, and use invented names they are widely known by. They also register misspellings and synonyms of their brands. They say that none of these practices requires a precise match to a legal name.

The registrars also say many businesses have spent years on marketing and search optimization for their existing domains, which would be severely affected. Drawing on their experience, they believe that when country-code registries make registration harder, registrants tend to switch to generic extensions. Tucows is one signatory to the letter, and the other signatories have not been identified.

Source: [Domain Name Wire](https://domainnamewire.com/2026/10/15/domain-registrars-push-back-on-australian-domain-name-changes/)