How to buy a domain name in Australia
It takes about ten minutes and costs less than most people expect. The part worth getting right is not the buying, it is whose name it ends up in and what you do immediately afterwards.
By Jack D. · 25 August 2026
Start with the name, not the extension
Pick something people can say down the phone without spelling it. If you have to explain a hyphen or a deliberate misspelling every time, the name is costing you work rather than saving it.
Your business name is usually the safest choice. Keyword names like bestplumbersydney can look tempting, but they age badly, they are harder to say, and they tie you to one trade and one city you might outgrow.
Check the name is not already someone else's trade mark before you get attached to it. Registering a domain gives you the domain, not the right to trade under a name someone else has protected.
What .com.au actually requires
A .com.au is not open to anyone. It is meant for entities with an Australian presence, so in practice you generally need something like an ABN or ACN to register one. That is the main reason people hit a wall halfway through checkout.
There is also a connection requirement: the domain has to relate to the entity registering it, rather than being any words you fancy. This is what stops people bulk-registering competitors' names.
The plain .au extension exists as well and has its own rules. If you already hold the .com.au, it is worth understanding what that means for the matching .au before someone else registers it.
Worth checking yourself: Eligibility rules for .au and .com.au are set by auDA and have changed before. This guide describes the shape of them, not the exact wording. Check the current rules on the auDA website before relying on any of it, especially if you are registering as a sole trader or under a business name rather than a company.
Choosing a registrar
A registrar is just the shop you buy the domain from. The domain is the same domain whoever you buy it through, so the differences are about service and terms, not about the product.
Australian registrars people commonly use include VentraIP, Crazy Domains, Netregistry and GoDaddy. All of them will sell you a .com.au. Which one suits you comes down to the things below rather than to whoever is cheapest in the first year.
Renewal price, not the first-year price
Introductory rates are common and renewals are what you actually live with. Look at year two before you decide, and check whether renewal is automatic.
Whose name it goes in
The single most important thing on this page. The registrant should be you or your entity, not your web designer, not your agency, not your nephew.
How hard it is to leave
You will want to move a domain one day. Check that transfers away are supported without a fee or a phone call, and that you can get the transfer code yourself.
How much gets bundled on
Some registrars add hosting, email, privacy and security products at checkout by default. None of it is required to own a domain. Untick what you did not come for.
Worth checking yourself: We have deliberately not put prices against those registrars. Domain pricing changes regularly, first-year and renewal rates differ, and a number in a guide goes stale fast. Compare current prices yourself on the day you buy, and compare the renewal, not the intro.
The part almost everyone gets wrong
Register the domain in your own name or your company's name. Not your web designer's, not the agency building your site, not a friend doing you a favour.
It sounds like a technicality until you want to move. A domain registered to someone else is a domain you have to ask permission to keep, and the request tends to arrive at exactly the moment the relationship has soured.
If someone else already registered yours, ask them to transfer the registrant details to you. Most will. If someone will not, you have learned something useful about who you are dealing with.
What to do the day you own it
Turn on auto-renew, or put the expiry in your calendar with a reminder a month out. Expired domains get picked up quickly, and buying yours back is far more expensive than renewing it was.
Make sure the contact email on the registration is one you will still be reading in two years. Renewal notices and transfer approvals go there, and a domain lost because the notices went to an old address is a genuinely common way to lose one.
Set up email on it if you want it. A business address at your own domain reads differently from a free one, and it is one of the cheapest credibility upgrades available.
Point it at a website when you have one. A domain sitting on a registrar parking page does nothing for you, and people who look you up will assume you are not trading.
Common questions
Do I need an ABN to buy a .com.au?
Generally you need some form of Australian presence, and an ABN is the usual way people satisfy that. The exact rules are auDA's and have changed before, so check the current requirements on the auDA site rather than taking a guide's word for it.
Should I buy .com as well as .com.au?
If you trade only in Australia, the .com.au is the one that matters and the .com is optional. Buying both is cheap insurance if the name is distinctive and you would rather nobody else had it.
How much should a domain cost?
Less than most people expect for a standard name, and considerably more for a short or premium one that someone already holds. We have not put numbers in this guide on purpose, because they move and a stale price is worse than none.
Can SiteDone register it for me?
Yes. We charge $49 for the first year, which covers the registration plus finding you an available name when your first choice is taken, then it renews at normal registrar rates. It is registered in your name either way. You are not charged for the domain when you sign up. We send you the available names, and charge the fee once you approve one, before we register it. If you walk away before we register it, we refund it in full.
What happens if I let it expire?
You usually get a grace period, then it goes back on the market. Names that have been trading are picked up fast, and buying yours back afterwards costs far more than the renewal would have. Turn on auto-renew.
Worth reading next
- Why your business needs a website: the real numbers
The Australian data on this, checked against its original source, including the figures that did not hold up.
- Website subscription vs buying outright
The honest trade-offs both ways, including where a subscription is the wrong choice.
- DIY website vs hiring a designer
What each actually costs you, in money and in hours, and how to tell which suits you.
Would rather someone else just did it?
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