When does a .au domain expire and drop?
An expired .au drops about 32 days later, faster than a generic because it runs no redemption stage. Here is that timeline, the Australian-presence rule, and how to register.
An expired .au is released about 32 days after expiry, sooner than a generic because .au runs no redemption stage: about 30 days of renewable hold, then a short purge of about 2 days, then release. .au is the country code of Australia, governed by auDA, and only registrants with an Australian presence may hold one.
- Registry
- auDA
- Backend
- Identity Digital
- Type
- ccTLD
- Country
- Australia
- Delegated
- 1986-03-05
- DNSSEC
- Yes
- IDN
- No
- Restrictions
- Local-presence
- Label length
- 1–63 chars
- Grace
- 30 days
- Pending delete
- 2 days
- Expiry to drop
- 32 days
A short lifecycle, no redemption
.au is governed by auDA with Identity Digital as its registry operator, and its post-expiry path is deliberately short: about 30 days of expired hold during which the name can still be renewed at the ordinary price, then an expired-purge window of about 2 days, then release.
There is no redemption stage and no restore premium, which is the key difference from a generic: once the hold ends there is no fee-gated second chance, so a lapsed .au reaches the point of no return faster. That makes watching one closely more important, not less.
Who runs .au, and since when
.au is the country code of Australia, delegated in 1986 and governed by auDA, the national policy authority, with technical operation on Identity Digital's platform. Direct second-level .au registrations opened in 2022 alongside the long-standing com.au and org.au namespaces.
Because it is a nationally governed country code rather than an ICANN-contracted generic, its eligibility and deletion policy are auDA's to set. The stages documented here are its published lifecycle, which our engine re-verifies against the live record.
How to register a .au domain
A .au is not open to the whole world: you must have an Australian presence to register or hold one, whether as a citizen, resident, or Australian-registered business.
Two things matter for a catch: you must meet the Australian-presence rule to hold the name, and there is no redemption safety net, so the window between hold and release is short. Watch a lapsing .au closely rather than assuming a restore period.
- Australian presence required: only Australian citizens, residents, or registered businesses and organisations may hold a .au domain.
- Register through any auDA-accredited registrar; the registry sells wholesale, not direct to the public.
- Labels run up to 63 characters using letters, digits and hyphens, never starting or ending with a hyphen.
- Registration is annual and renewable; an unrenewed name enters the short deletion timeline below, which has no redemption stage.
The .au timeline, stage by stage
The stages an unrenewed .au passes through. Note there is no redemption stage.
| Stage | Window | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Renewal grace: about 30 days | Day 0 to 30 after expiry | The registration has expired but the current owner can still renew at the normal price, usually through their registrar. The name often stops resolving during this window, and nobody else can register it. Registrars frequently delete earlier than the final day, which starts the rest of the timeline early. |
| Pending delete: 2 days | Day 30 to 32 after expiry | The point of no return. Recovery is no longer possible for anyone, including the original owner, and the registry releases the name at the end of this fixed window. This is the stage worth acting on if you want the name. |
| Released: registrable by anyone | From about day 32 | The name leaves the registry's deletion pipeline and returns to the public pool, registrable at the standard price on a first-come basis through any registrar. Availability monitoring exists to catch this moment. |
.au technical profile
How .au publishes registration data, secures its zone, and handles internationalized names.
WHOIS and RDAP
Registration data for every .au domain is queryable over RDAP at https://rdap.cctld.au/rdap/ and legacy WHOIS at whois.auda.org.au, so status, dates and record changes are machine-readable, which is exactly what our monitoring reads.
DNSSEC
The .au registry supports DNSSEC, so a domain can publish DS records and let resolvers cryptographically validate its DNS answers against tampering.
Internationalized names
The .au registry does not offer internationalized domain names, so labels are registered in ordinary ASCII letters, digits and hyphens rather than non-Latin scripts.
https://rdap.cctld.au/rdap/
whois.auda.org.au
Running on Identity Digital's platform, .au publishes standard EPP statuses and RDAP records, so its stage transitions and drop timing are observable, even though its lifecycle is shorter than a generic's.
Is .au a good domain?
Where .au fits, and the constraints.
An Australian address
For an Australian business or resident, .au signals national identity and local trust, and the newer direct .au sits alongside the established com.au for a shorter, cleaner name.
Direct .au names
Since direct second-level registration opened, short .au names have been available that were never possible under com.au alone, subject to priority rules for existing holders.
No redemption safety net
The short lifecycle with no redemption stage cuts both ways: a name you want reaches release quickly, but a name you own is easier to lose, so renewals need watching.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about .au domains.
What is .au, and who runs it?
.au is the country code of Australia, delegated in 1986 and governed by auDA, the national policy authority, with technical operation on Identity Digital's registry platform.
How long does it take for an expired .au to drop?
About 32 days, faster than a generic: roughly 30 days of renewable expired hold, then an expired-purge window of about 2 days, then release. There is no redemption stage in between.
Does .au have a redemption or restore period?
No. Unlike a generic, .au runs no redemption grace period and charges no restore premium. Once the expired hold ends, the name moves to purge and release with no fee-gated second chance.
Who is allowed to register a .au domain?
Only those with an Australian presence: Australian citizens and residents, and businesses or organisations registered in Australia. The presence rule is a condition of holding the name.
What is the best way to get a .au that is expiring?
Watch it closely and confirm you meet the presence rule. Because there is no redemption stage, the window is short, so an alert at the hold-to-purge transition is what you act on.
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