The auDA Board has decided accept the recommendation that second level, or direct, registrations be allowed under .au. But the processes involved mean it will be 2017 at least before the changes take place.It was announced Monday that the board has decided to accept the recommendation of the 2015 Names Policy Panel* to introduce direct registrations in .au – for example, “yourname.au”.The Board agreed with the majority views expressed in the Panel’s final report, that the introduction of direct registrations would:

• make available domain names which are shorter, more appealing and more memorable
• give Australians more choice in deciding what domain name to register
• respond to market demand
• be more attractive to natural individuals than the current option, id.au
• strengthen the “.au brand” in a globally competitive market
• add value to all three main categories of users – registrars and resellers, registrants and ultimate users of the .au domain name system.

auDA will now undertake a comprehensive policy development process and further stakeholder consultations to determine the best approach for implementing direct registrations in .au, including taking into account the impact on existing registrants, in a manner that is consistent with the .au policy and regulatory framework, and that maintains the overall stability and integrity of the .au DNS. With these further consultations it would likely be 2017, at the earliest, for the changes to take place.While the introduction of second level registrations was the main recommendation of the Panel, another that the Board has agreed to include allowing variable one to five year domain licence periods. * The author was a member of the 2015 Names Policy Panel