Eligibility and Allocation Policy

Table of contents

    The Eligibility and Allocation Policy must be read in conjunction with the:

    1. gov.au Policy and Governance Framework
    2. gov.au Dispute Resolution Policy
    3. Application of auDA Policy

    Applicants should consider the Domain Name Guidelines prior to submitting an application for a domain name.

    The Domain Provider for your jurisdiction will assess domain name applications against the following policies and the Domain Name Guidelines. Unless otherwise indicated, domain names must meet each of the criteria listed.

    General criteria

    1. It is the responsibility of the Registrant Contact to provide sufficient information to demonstrate compliance with this Eligibility and Allocation Policy.

      First come, first served
    2. Domain name licences are allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. It is not possible to pre-register or otherwise reserve a domain name.

      Domain Name licence renewal period
    3. For the domain names held in the gov.au Registry, the domain name licence period is fixed at 2 years. It is not possible to license a domain name for a shorter or longer period.
    4. Renewal of a domain name licence at the end of the 2 year period is dependent on the Registrant continuing to meet this Eligibility and Allocation Policy.

      auDA’s Reserved List
    5. auDA’s Reserved List contains names that may not be licensed. The list is available on auDA’s website.

    Registrant criteria (Organisation requesting the domain name)

    1. The Registrant must be an organisation established by an Act of Parliament or government regulation as a government department or agency; a local government entity; a statutory authority; or other defined government body.
    2. Some educational bodies are also government bodies: educational bodies are encouraged to register domain names in the domain name space provided for that sector (edu.au).

    Registrant Contact criteria (Individual submitting the application)

    1. The Registrant Contact must be an employee of the Registrant and shall certify, through their acceptance of the Registrant Agreement, that the Chief Executive Officer or delegate has approved the submission of the domain name application on behalf of that organisation.
    2. In exceptional circumstances:
      1. The Chief Executive Officer, or delegate, of the Registrant may delegate authority for a third party to act on their behalf as Registrant Contact.
      2. The Domain Provider may, at their discretion, act as Registrant Contact for domain names within their jurisdiction.

    Technical Contact criteria

    1. The Registrant Contact may nominate a third party, such as a service provider, to act as the Technical Contact for a domain name.

    Stated purpose

    1. Gov.au domain names must only be used for the official business of the Registrant.
    2. The Registrant Contact must state the purpose of the domain name in their application.
    3. The domain name must be used specifically and exclusively for the stated purpose for the duration of the licence period.
    4. Only one domain name per stated purpose is allowed. Domain Providers reserve the right to waive this rule where there is a compelling business reason for multiple domain names.

    Domain Name Format criteria

    1. Domain names can only be registered using the jurisdictional extension of the Registrant’s jurisdiction.

      e.g. NSW Government Registrants can only register domain names with nsw.gov.au extensions.

      Domain Providers reserve the right to waive this rule if the stated purpose is multi-jurisdictional in nature.

    2. Domain names must bear a direct semantic connection to the stated purpose. Furthermore, such names should represent a readily recognised concept associated with the stated purpose.
    3. However, domain names must not:
      1. be a personal name;
      2. exceed 60 characters in length, including the first, second and jurisdictional levels of the domain name (e.g. example.act.gov.au or example.gov.au);
      3. consist entirely of numerals;
      4. have the same name as an Australian electoral division unless referring to the name of a local government entity;
      5. express a political statement or bear any semantic connection to a registered Australian political party;
      6. contain obscene or offensive language or otherwise prejudice the reputation or credibility of the gov.au domain;
      7. infringe the intellectual property rights of other parties. It is the responsibility of the Registrant to ensure compliance with this requirement. Applicants are encouraged to visit the IP Australia website;
      8. refer or appear to refer to a State or Territory other than that indicated by the 3LD suffix (i.e. vic.nsw.gov.au)
    4. Domain names that comprise common words must conform to the correct Australian English spelling, grammar and syntax.Domain Providers may choose to waive this rule to enable the use of aliases.
    5. Domain names that are generic in nature will not be approved unless:
      1. there is a direct link to the name or function of the Registrant; or
      2. the website supported by the domain is an initiative that provides comprehensive information on the topic concerned at a whole-of-jurisdiction level and/or allows cross-agency involvement.

      Domain Providers reserve the right to waive this rule where there is a compelling business reason for use of a generic domain name.

      Composition of domain names- Technical

    6. Domain names must:
      1. be at least 2 characters long;
      2. contain only letters (a-z), numbers (0-9) and hyphens (-), or a combination of these;
      3. start and end with a number or a letter, not a hyphen; and
      4. not contain hyphens in the third and fourth position (eg. ab--cd.gov.au).