Small businesses are urged to take action to safeguard their brand and identity online by 20 September 2022 through securing a shorter .au domain.

Australian businesses with an existing domain name have until 20 September 2022 to reserve or register their equivalent .au domain name before it becomes available to the general public, opening the risk for impersonators or cyber criminals to taking these names.

The auDA introduced the new system on 24 March 2022 allowing anyone with a connection to Australia, such as businesses, associations and individuals to register this new category of domain name. Instead of ending with .com.au or .net.au these eligible businesses or individuals can now register the shorter name, for instance shoes.au

The Ombudsman said the changes could see businesses lose their customer base or be at the mercy of these cyber criminals impersonating them if they did not proactively sign up to the system.

Find out more about the Priority process for registrations before 20 September 2022, and how to register .au domains for your business here.