- The gov.au Domain Name Policies (the gov.au policies) apply to third level domains at the Australian Government level (e.g. example.gov.au) and fourth level domains at the State/Territory/Local Government levels (e.g. example.act.gov.au).
- Gov.au policies have been developed to facilitate the registration and administration of domain names used by Australian, State, Territory and Local Government jurisdictions.
- Gov.au policies are formally reviewed every 2 years.
- The Australian Government Department of Finance holds a sub-sponsorship agreement with .au Domain Administration (auDA), the industry self-regulatory body, for management of the gov.au domain.
- The Department of Finance manages the gov.au policies and administration in consultation with an inter-jurisdictional Domain Consultative Committee comprising of representatives from each jurisdiction.
- All new policies and major policy changes were endorsed by the former Online and Communications Council. Membership of the Online and Communications Council comprised the Australian Government Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (Chair), a senior Minister from each State and Territory and the President of the Australian Local Government Association.
- Each jurisdiction may apply additional domain policies, standards and guidelines in assessing domain applications.
- A single agency in each jurisdiction, known as the Domain Provider, has the delegated authority to assess individual domain name applications for that jurisdiction. A list of Domain Providers, and relevant contacts, is available at www.domainname.gov.au/contact-us.
- Domain Providers:
- reserve the right to remove a gov.au domain name from the registry if it is considered to be in breach of gov.au policies or the gov.au Registrant Agreement; and
- reserve the right to reject an application for a domain name.
