What You Need to Know About Business Domains in Australia
You've searched a name and seen a few different endings come up — .com.au, .au, .com. They're not just different flavours of the same thing. Here's what actually separates them, in plain English.
The three you'll mostly see
yourbusiness.com.au
The classic Australian business address. To register one, you have to prove you're a real Australian business or person — usually with an ABN — and the name has to actually relate to your business name. You can't just buy any .com.au you like; the rules stop random squatting. Most Australian customers recognise this ending instantly and trust it.
yourbusiness.au
A newer, shorter version of the same thing — same Australian eligibility rules as .com.au (you still need an ABN and a matching name), just without the ".com" in the middle. Shorter to type and say out loud, which is handy for a van sign or a business card.
yourbusiness.com
The global, generic ending — literally anyone in the world can register any .com name with no proof of who they are or what business they run. That openness is exactly why it doesn't say "Australian business" the way .com.au does. Aussie customers can still find you fine, it just doesn't carry that local trust signal on its own.
Why the rules are different
.com.au and .au are restricted on purpose. Think of it like needing ID to prove you're actually eligible before you're allowed to register one — you need an ABN (or a registered trademark) and the domain has to genuinely relate to your business. It stops people squatting on business names they have nothing to do with, which is exactly why Australians trust the ending.
.com has no ID check at all. Anyone, anywhere, can register any available .com name today, for any reason. That's great for global reach, but it means the ending itself tells a visitor nothing about who's actually behind the site.
Which one should you pick?
🟢 Servicing local/Australian customers only (most tradies) → .com.au or .au — instantly recognisable as a real Australian business, and it's what most of your customers expect to see.
🔵 Want the shortest possible address, and your exact .com.au name is taken → try the matching .au version first before settling for a workaround.
There's no wrong answer between .com.au and .au — pick whichever is available and easiest to say out loud. The main thing worth avoiding, if you can help it, is a .com as your only option when a matching .com.au or .au is available: for a business that only works locally, the Australian ending does a bit of trust-building for you before a customer even lands on the page.
Things to know before you register
You'll need an ABN. Same one covered in the business names and ABN guide — get that sorted first if you haven't already, since .com.au and .au registration both check for it.
The name has to relate to your business. The domain generally needs to match, abbreviate, or closely relate to your registered or trading business name — you can't register an unrelated .com.au just because it sounds catchy.
Registration is ongoing, not one-off. Domains are rented, not bought outright — you renew them (commonly every 1–2 years) or you lose them.
This page is a general, plain-English guide, not legal advice. The exact eligibility rules for .au and .com.au are set and updated by auDA, Australia's domain name administrator — check auda.org.au for the current requirements.
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