If you’ve placed a pre-order, your.au domain name will be registered once .au launches on the 24th of March. In some cases, a domain may be contested and may be allocated at a later date, if eligible.
Pre-orders don’t guarantee a domain name as all uncontested domains are registered on a first-come, first-serve basis. We’ll submit your pre-order to the registry as soon as it opens on the 24th of March and try to secure your name for you.
What is a contested domain?
This happens when multiple registrants own the same name in different 3rd level tlds:
Eg:
Jane owns purplepenguins.com.au.
Joel owns purplepenguins.net.au
Each must apply for purplepenguins.au. The domain will be allocated based on the priority process set by AUda, the .au domain registry.