It’s the worst. You’ve come up with the absolute perfect domain name, only to find out it’s already taken. And now you want to find out who the heck has the domain you want. Good news, there are many methods to find out who holds a .au domain, and we’re not here to gatekeep you. This is the right place to be to get a complete rundown on how to check domain availability, work out who owns it, and the steps you can take to get hold of it.
Do A .au Domain Search To Be Certain It’s Registered
We have to ask, but are you sure the domain is taken? I mean, you’d feel a bit daft after reading this whole article, following our carefully considered steps, only to find out that your ideal .au website was just waiting for you the whole time. You see, sometimes you get false negatives. Maybe when you last looked the registry’s database was down, or (whisper it) you made a typo. No matter the reason, doing a quick .au domain search to confirm just makes sense. Save your sanity, potentially save a little time and make sure.
Your .au Domain is Available!
See! What did we tell you? Now stop reading and go get your .au domain! But if you need help, check out our article, How to Buy a .au Domain. It’s got everything you need to secure your new website.
Find the Owner of Your Taken .au Domain
If the .au domain you wanted is already taken, that’s no reason to panic. There are a lot of options, but you’ll need to work out who owns the domain right now. Let’s work out how.
Step one is simple. If they’ve got a live website on the domain you want, go to their ‘contact us’ page and find contact details. This won’t always be useful (sales teams usually don’t know anything about domain ownership) but it’s a good place to start.
Step two is doing a WHOIS search. This tool shows you the details about registered domains, including contact details for the registrants. As WHOIS is an industry standard, all domain name extensions should have their own WHOIS databases. Though different places do store and share different types of information. But auDA (the Australian Domain Authority, who handle .au domain name registrations) give us plenty to work with.
My Perfect .au Domain Isn’t Available! What do I do?
Good news, there are so many things you can do to get your ideal au domain that we’ve made it a big old list. If there’s a way to get it, you’ll find it here.
Lodge a .au Domain Dispute
If you think you have a rightful claim to a .au domain that’s taken by someone else, then it’s time to lodge a domain dispute with auDA, the au domain administration. They use a version of the Uniform Dispute Resolution (UDRP) adapted for Australia to work out who really should get the domain. Plus, all Australian domains in the au namespace are expected to follow a thorough registration process designed to make sure that Australian domain names are used by Australian citizens and businesses. They require all sorts of details like ABN/ACNs, Australian trademarks and the like as part of their eligibility criteria. So, if the current registrant doesn’t actually have the right to the website, then you have a good chance of turning it over.
It’s absolutely worth getting in contact with them and starting the process, especially as it’s the early days of .au, so even though there’s a lower bar to determine an Australian Presence, as opposed to .com.au, .org.au and .net.au domains, there’s a solid chance the other party were given the domain by mistake.
Reach Out to the Owner
The most straightforward solution is to just contact the current domain owner and asking to see whether there’s any chance their willing to sell. Do a WHOIS lookup, get their contact details, and give them a call or send an email.
Of course, getting your domain this way can cost more than just getting a new one. So, brace yourself for some negotiations and potentially a higher cost.
Use a Domain Broker Service
If you don’t want to deal with all that haggling, or just want to keep your identity a secret from the seller, you can use a domain broker service. They’re experts in buying domains and will negotiate your .au domain purchase for you, without revealing who is doing the buying. Plus, there’s the bonus that they do this for a living, so are probably better at it than you. Or maybe not, I don’t know.
You can find plenty of Domain Broker service providers by googling, or why not try out our personal suggestion: BrandShelter. They’re pretty good.
Find Your .au Domain on the Aftermarket
There are two types of people who buy domains. Those that want them to be the home of their web business. And those who are just speculating; trying to identify names that will be in demand later on, letting them make a profit from the sale. Those types of people (who call themselves Domain Investors) will almost certainly have already listed their stock on domain aftermarket sellers like Sedo and Afternic. So, go search to see if your domain is already listed there. Because if it is, that’ll make the whole process easier.
That said, if the domain is for sale, it probably has a digital For Sale sign when you visit the .au website. There’ll be a link to click to get directly in touch with them.
Let the .au Expire
If the person who currently owns the .au domain name you want isn’t doing anything with it, then there’s a chance you get it by doing nothing. By just waiting for the domain to expire and then picking it up when it’s released by the registry.
Sadly, as much as we’d like to say doing nothing is easy. It’s actually more challenging than it seems at first. You see, auDA doesn’t make domain registration and expiration dates public, so you can’t find out exactly when the domain will be released. So, you’d have to check on the domain availability every day. And considering that while domains are mostly registered for one-year periods, they can be secured for longer.
But if you want to go this route, just set a reminder to check and see if the website is still there every day (or week, or month). Of course, if it’s a super valuable .au extension, someone else might be waiting to get it too.
Use a .au Domain Backorder Service
If you don’t want to spend every waking moment hitting refresh, waiting to see if your dream .au is available, then good news, there’s a solution. Like there are domain brokers to help you negotiate a domain sale, there are also people who specialise in claiming domains when they expire.
They’re called Domain Backorder Services. And they have systems in place to give you the best chance of securing the .au domain you want as soon as it becomes available. Money well spent, we think.
It’s Time to Get Your .au Domain
That’s it then, everything you need to know to find out who owns a particular .au domain extension, and all the different (legal) ways you can go about getting your hands on it. Good luck!
