Change of Legal Ownership
Changing the legal owner of an Australian domain is not the same as transferring a domain. A formal ownership change must be completed, with approval from both parties and a registry fee to stay complaint with Australian domain registration rules.
Change of Legal Ownership for Australian domains
A common misunderstanding is that a change the legal ownership of an Australian domain name can be done by doing a domain transfer. This is not the case. The Australian Central Registry requires that you pay a fee and lodge a formal change of legal ownership, if the owner has changed. If you have bought a business or restructured your business, it is important to check that business details are listed correctly for your domain and assigned to the correct ABN, ACN, BN or Trademark Number.
To check the registration details for an Australian domain name, visit https://whois.auda.org.au/ , enter your domain name and the 'control text' and the website will tell you who is listed as the legal registrant of the domain name and the registrant ID. You need to ensure that these details are correct and the registrant ID is active on the Australian business name registry.
If the details are not correct, you will need to lodge a change of legal ownership.
The cost involved to change legal ownership effectively $24, is as it includes a new registration term.
$99 which includes a new 2 year registration for your Australian domain.
A change of legal ownership forfeits any remaining time on the domain name registration and a new registration term will commence after the change of legal ownership is processed. So if you are transferring in a domain to us, prior to lodging a change of legal ownership, do not renew the domain during the transfer.
How do I lodge a change of legal ownership
After the domain has been transferred to us, login and under the ORDERS tab, click .au Registrant Name Change.
Complete the forms and pay the invoice online, and we will process your change of legal ownership and notify you when the registrant details have been updated.
You can contact us if you have any questions about the process or require any assistance.
Please note: Australian domain names must be registered for a minimum of 6 months before you can do a change the legal ownership.
Common Reasons for changing legal ownership
Buying a new business
Buying a domain name from another person or company
Transferring legal ownership of your domain name from a sole trader to company, partnership to company, company to trust, etc.
Common Reasons why you may be able to change or update the registry database without having to lodge a change of legal ownership
Circumstances under which a registrar may process a correction to registrant details that do not require a change of legal ownership include:
a) where the registrar or the registrant submitted incorrect data at the time of registration (eg. to correct a misspelling of the registrant’s name);
b) where the domain name was incorrectly registered to the wrong party (eg. the domain name was registered in the name of a company employee instead of the name of the company);
c) where the domain name was incorrectly registered in the name of the reseller or other agent (website developer, web designer, advertising agent, etc) who arranged the registration; and
d) where otherwise authorised by auDA.
If you feel that you fall into any of the above categories, please transfer your domain name to us and email us as to the reason why you require a registry update and we can assist you in updating the registry with the correct details.
For more information on auDA policy see, http://www.auda.org.au/
