The .au Direct Domain Name I’m Reviewing is Available, But Contested – What Does This Mean?

Category: Domain Names

In some cases, you may be attempting to register a .au direct name where a single or multiple registrants hold the same name in a different .au namespace. These names are referred to as single contested and multi-contested names. Contested names are required to go through auDA’s Priority Allocation Process.

Any .au direct names that match a domain already registered in the .au namespace are offered to existing registrants for the first 6 months under a Priority Allocation period and locked from public registration. This period will last from launch on 24th March 2022 until 20th September 2022.

Example of single contested domains

In most cases, there will only be one registrant eligible to apply for a reserved .au direct name as they will be the only holder of its match in another .au namespace. This is referred to as a single contested name – You/your client holds getyour.org.au, and there are no other licenses for ‘getyour’ in any other .au namespace.

In these cases, where an applicant has successfully applied for the .au direct name, the applicant will be allocated the domain name shortly after applying for Priority Status(Within 24 hours).

Example of multi-contested domains:

In some cases, there will be more than one registrant eligible for a reserved .au direct name, as different registrants can hold the same name in different .au namespaces. This is referred to as a multi-contested name. See below for an example scenario.

You/your client (Registrant A) is the registrant of getyour.com.au
Jane Doe (Registrant B) is the registrant of getyour.net.au
All hold names that were in the registry before the launch of .au direct.
You/your client, and Jane Doe are all eligible to apply for Priority Status to register getyour.au.

In the case of a multi-contested domain, the .au direct name will be allocated according to priority categories determined by the existing domain name licence creation date and the priority cut-off date. You can find out more by reading our guide on the difference between Priority Category 1 and 2 for .au direct domains.