Transferring a .com.au domain to a new owner

A .com.au or .au name moves to a new holder through a "change of registrant": the current holder asks their registrar, in writing, to transfer the licence, and the registrar checks that both of you are eligible before it moves anything. The new holder signs a new licence agreement, chooses a licence period and pays the licence fee, and the registrar must make the transfer within two calendar days of the request (rules 2.13.1 to 2.13.3 of auDA's .au Domain Administration Rules: Licensing).

Everything below comes from that rulebook, as amended in July 2026, and from auDA's own help pages, read on 20 October 2026. auDA is the body that runs .au.

You are taking over a licence

Nobody owns a .au name outright. The rules say so in as many words: "A Person does not legally 'own' a Domain Name." What you hold is a licence to use the name for one to five years at a time.

When a name changes hands, "the Registrant's Licence Agreement is terminated", and the person taking it "must enter into a new Licence Agreement" (rule 2.13.5). So the buyer has to qualify in their own right, on the day of the transfer, under the same eligibility rules that apply to anyone registering a name (rule 2.13.2).

Two different transfers

People say "transfer" for two separate things.

A change of registrant (the name gets a new holder):

• Who starts it: the current holder, in writing to their registrar (2.13.1).
• What it needs: both sides eligible on the day, a new licence agreement and the licence fee (2.13.1, 2.13.2).
• Fees: the new holder pays the new licence fee (2.13.2). Some providers also charge to process it.
• How long: the registrar acts within two calendar days of the request (2.13.3).

A change of registrar (same holder, new company managing the name):

• Who starts it: the holder, through the registrar they are moving to.
• What it needs: the holder still eligible, plus a valid authorisation code (2.13.8).
• Fees: "A Registrant is not required to pay a fee" (2.13.9).
• How long: up to three days once approved, says auDA's help page.

Buying or selling a name is the first kind. The second is what a buyer often does afterwards, to bring the name into the account where they keep everything else.

What the new holder has to prove

For a .com.au

Two tests, and you need to pass both on the day the name moves.

You must be a commercial entity. The rules list who counts, including a company, "an entity or natural Person issued with an Australian Business Number", an incorporated association, a trust with an ABN (but not a charitable trust), and a foreign person or company that "holds or has applied for an Australian Trade Mark". If your only link to Australia is that trade mark, the name must be an exact match of its words (rule 2.4.5). In practice, auDA says, the proof is "Usually this is an Australian Business Number (ABN) or Australian Company Number (ACN)."

The name must connect to you (rule 2.4.4). It can be, among other things, a match or acronym of your company, business or personal name, a match of your Australian trade mark, or a match or synonym of a service you provide, goods you sell, an event you register or sponsor, an activity you run, teach or train, or premises you operate. For that last group, the rule adds that it must be something you are "providing at the time of the application".

"Match" is narrower than it sounds. The name must use one, some or all of the words in your legal name, business name or trade mark, in the same order, with nothing added. Status words like Pty Ltd, articles like "the" and "and", punctuation and ampersands are ignored. auDA's own example: a business called "Forexample Publishing" could hold forexample, forexamplepublishing, forexample-publishing or publishing.

An ABN gets you through the first test. It does nothing for the second.

For a .au direct

A plain .au (like name.au) asks for less. auDA says it is "open to everyone who has a validated Australian presence" and "You can choose any .au direct domain name you like, provided it's available and you have permission to use it." On ABNs, auDA's answer is: "No, you don't need an ABN or ACN to register a .au direct domain name."

An Australian presence includes being a citizen or permanent resident, a company registered under the Corporations Act, or an entity with an ABN. If your only link to Australia is a trade mark, the name has to be an exact match of the trade mark's words.

Who does what, in order

Selling a business does not move the domain by itself. auDA puts it plainly: "buying a business does not mean the domain name licence is automatically transferred to the new owner."

Does a new licence period start?

A new licence period starts on transfer: auDA says "A new domain name licence period commences at the time of registration, renewal or transfer." On how long it runs, auDA's own pages disagree. The rules say the new holder chooses the new licence period and pays the new licence fee (rule 2.13.2). auDA's transfer help page says "any full years remaining on the licence will automatically be transferred to the new registrant, up to a maximum licence period of five years", and only full years, so three years and two months remaining becomes three. Before you pay, ask the registrar in writing what expiry date you will end up with, and what the fee covers.

What it costs and how long it takes

There are up to three costs. auDA sets only the wholesale part of the licence fee, and your provider sets the rest:

• The price you agree with the holder. That is between the two of you.
• The licence fee for your new licence period. It has a wholesale part charged by the registry and a retail part charged by the registrar, so it varies by provider.
• A transfer fee, at some providers. auDA says "Some .au domain name providers may charge a fee for performing the transfer, as they need to validate that both parties are eligible." Check your provider's price list.

Moving to a different registrar later costs nothing in transfer fees (rule 2.13.9).

On time, the rules fix two limits: 28 calendar days from the agreement for the seller to ask, unless the agreement sets another time, and two calendar days for the registrar to act. The rest depends on how quickly the seller logs in and how quickly the buyer completes the registrar's steps.

What goes wrong

The buyer is not eligible. A buyer that is not a commercial entity cannot take a .com.au, and a .com.au that matches nothing about the buyer fails the second test. The registrar checks both before it transfers (rule 2.13.3), so the deal stops there. Sort out the entity first: auDA's advice is "Before registering your domain name, make sure your ABN or ACN is set up."

The registrant email is dead. A registrar gives out the authorisation code only to the registrant contact listed in the .au registry, unless the registrant authorises another person in writing (rule 2.12.10), so a seller whose listed email no longer works should update it with their provider before the sale. The rules give holders 14 calendar days to report changes (rule 2.11.9), and a licence can be suspended when details are not updated in that time (rule 2.16.4).

The name is suspended or cancelled. A suspended licence "cannot be transferred" (rule 2.16.5), and nor can a cancelled one (rule 2.16.11).

The name is in a dispute. A name "subject to any Complaint process under these auDA Rules, dispute resolution or court proceedings" cannot change holder (rule 2.13.1). auDA's help page names the auDA Dispute Resolution Policy (auDRP), internal review and complaints to the Licence Review Panel.

The seller's company no longer exists. A licence is deemed cancelled 30 calendar days after its holder ceases to exist, unless there is documentary evidence the holder had agreed beforehand to transfer it to the person now using the name (rule 2.11.2). After that date it cannot be transferred (rule 2.11.3).

The licence has expired. A transfer needs a licence whose "term has not expired" (rule 2.13.1). The holder has 30 calendar days after expiry to renew (rule 2.14.4), after which the name goes back to the public, first come, first served (rule 2.14.5).

Someone fakes it. "A fraudulent Transfer of a Licence will result in the Licence Transfer being cancelled" (rule 2.13.7). Pay through an arrangement that holds the money until the name is in your name, not before.

A worked example: a Brisbane café buys its .com.au

The café and names here are invented for the example.

Kettle Crumb Pty Ltd runs a café in Brisbane under the registered business name Kettle & Crumb. It wants kettlecrumb.com.au, which a sole trader in Perth registered years ago for her catering business, Kettle Crumb Catering, and no longer needs.

Is the café eligible? It is a company, so it is a commercial entity with an Australian presence. The name is a match of its business name, because the ampersand is ignored. Both tests pass.

Is the seller able to sell? The seller still has an active ABN and still trades as Kettle Crumb Catering, so she remains eligible. The café asks her to confirm the name is not in a dispute and that it has not expired. WHOIS shows the registrar of record.

3 March. They agree a price of $4,500 and sign a one-page agreement. It says the seller will request the transfer within seven days and that payment is held until the name arrives. Without that clause, the default limit would be 28 days, which runs to 31 March.

5 March. The seller logs in to her provider and starts a change of registrant, entering the café's details. The registrar gives the authorisation code only to the registrant contact listed in the .au registry, and the seller's listed email still works. The same afternoon the café gets the registrar's steps. It accepts the new licence agreement in the company's name, chooses two years, after the registrar confirms that is the period it will apply, and pays the licence fee and the provider's transfer fee, if it charges one. The registrar checks the seller's ABN and the café's company and business name.

By 7 March. The registrar has two calendar days from the request. The name is now licensed to Kettle Crumb Pty Ltd, the café confirms it, and the money is released to the seller.

Afterwards. The café moves the name to the registrar that hosts its email, at no transfer fee. Having moved registrar, it must change the authorisation code within two calendar days (rule 2.12.7).

Buying through a marketplace

When a name sells on Dotto, the transfer follows this same auDA process. On a full payment, Dotto's help page says "your payment stays with Dotto until you confirm the domain has arrived". You can see .com.au names their holders have listed at dotto.com/domains/com-au.