.au domain registration from Pakistan
.au is Australia's country extension, administered by auDA under Licensing Rules that every accredited registrar must apply. Since 24 March 2022 you can register a short "direct" name such as yourbrand.au, alongside the older com.au, net.au, org.au and id.au. The catch for a Pakistani business is that every .au name needs an Australian presence, so we check that with you before we file anything.
Price and how to order
Loading the current .au price…
Search any name on the availability checker, or go straight to the order form. We confirm availability before registering, you pay in rupees by bank transfer, Raast, JazzCash or Easypaisa, and the domain is registered in your own name.
Who uses .au
- Pakistani exporters selling into Australia
- Software and services firms with Australian clients
- Brands holding an Australian trade mark
- Foreign companies registered with ASIC that hold an ARBN
- Pakistanis holding Australian citizenship or PR
A .au name makes sense when your customers are in Australia and you already have a legal footing there. A Sialkot sports-goods exporter that has filed a trade mark with IP Australia can hold the matching .au or com.au name, and an Australian buyer searching for that brand sees a local address rather than a .pk one. If you have no Australian company, ABN, ARBN or trade mark, we will tell you so before you pay, and suggest .com or .pk instead; we do not file applications that the rules will reject.
Eligibility and rules
Who may register: The registrant must have an "Australian presence" as defined in section 1.4 of the Licensing Rules: an Australian citizen or permanent resident, a company registered under the Corporations Act, a foreign company registered with ASIC that holds an ARBN, an entity with an ABN, or one of the other listed bodies. A person or company with none of those ties can qualify only through an Australian trade mark, either an application or a registration, and only for a domain name that is an exact match of the words in that mark.
- Names need at least two characters, using only letters a-z, digits 0-9 and hyphens; a name cannot start or end with a hyphen, and hyphens are not allowed in the third and fourth positions (Licensing Rules 2.7.1).
- The Rules list IDN scripts (Chinese Simplified, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Vietnamese) but say the IDN rules commence on a date "to be advised", so only plain ASCII names can be registered today (Rules 1.2.4, 2.8.1).
- You can apply to renew up to 90 calendar days before expiry, and the new term starts on the old expiry date. After expiry there is a 30-calendar-day window to renew; after that the name is released to the public on a first come, first served basis (Rules 2.14.1-2.14.5).
- Moving to another registrar needs a valid authorisation code and a written request, and no fee is payable for the change (Rules 2.13.8-2.13.9). Within two calendar days of the move you must change the authorisation code; if you do not, the new registrar may reset it and must give you the new code within 24 hours (Rules 2.12.7-2.12.9).
- You cannot apply through a privacy or proxy service (Rules 2.2.3). The WHOIS field list (Schedule D) includes the registrant's legal name, registrant ID (for example an ACN), eligibility type, eligibility name and ID (for example a trade mark number), and a registrant contact name and email. auDA's WHOIS Policy withholds street address, telephone and fax numbers and removes email addresses from port 43 and RDAP output; the contact email still appears on web WHOIS.
- You get a cooling-off period of three calendar days starting immediately after the licence agreement is entered into, during which you can cancel by written notice (Rules 1.4, 2.15.4). You must keep an Australian presence and stay eligible for the whole term; the Rules give the example of a foreign person whose Australian trade mark registration has lapsed, whose licence will be cancelled (Rules 2.11.5-2.11.7).
Questions about .au
Can I register a .au domain from Pakistan without an Australian company?
Not with a CNIC, SECP registration or FBR NTN alone; those do not count as an Australian presence. The two routes the Rules give a foreign business are an Australian trade mark (an application or a registration) for a name that exactly matches the mark's words, or registering the foreign company with ASIC so that it holds an ARBN.
What is the difference between a .au direct name and com.au?
Both need an Australian presence. A com.au name must belong to a commercial entity and must match or be an acronym of its name, match its Australian trade mark, or match or be a synonym of goods, services, events, activities or premises it provides (Rules 2.4.4). A .au direct name, available since 24 March 2022, needs only an Australian presence, so you can pick any available name you have the right to use (Rules 2.4.3).
How many years can I register a .au name for?
Any whole term from one to five years. You can apply to renew up to 90 calendar days before the expiry date, and the new term starts on the old expiry date, so renewing early does not lose you time.
What happens if I miss the renewal date?
You have 30 calendar days after expiry to renew with your registrar, provided you are still eligible. After that the name becomes available to the public on a first come, first served basis.
Will my name and details be visible in WHOIS?
Yes. You cannot register through a privacy or proxy service, and the public WHOIS shows the registrant's legal name, registrant ID, eligibility type, eligibility name and ID (for example a trade mark number), and a registrant contact name. The contact email appears on web WHOIS. Street address, telephone and fax numbers are withheld under auDA's WHOIS Policy.
Does a pending Australian trade mark application count, or must it be registered?
Yes, a pending application counts. The Rules say the applicant or owner of an Australian trade mark can rely on that application or registration, and the domain must be an exact match of the mark's words. If the application or registration lapses so that you no longer have an Australian presence, the licence is cancelled (Rules 2.11.6).
- https://www.auda.org.au/policy/au-domain-administration-rules-licensing
- https://www.auda.org.au/au-domain-names/au-domain-names/au-direct
- https://www.auda.org.au/blog/what-priority-allocation-process
- https://www.auda.org.au/domains/au-domains/
- https://www.auda.org.au/au-domain-names/au-rules-and-policies/whois-policy-2025-11/
- https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/au.html