A common misunderstanding is that you can simply transfer an Australian domain name and this changes the legal ownership of the domain name. This is not the case. The auDA requires that you pay a fee and lodge a formal change of legal ownership. If you do not complete the process of legally changing ownership of your domain, you may be using a domain name that you not the legal registrant for. If you have bought a business, it is important to check that the change of legal ownership of your domain has been processed and your business details are listed correctly.
To check the registration details for an Australian domain name, visit http://www.ausregistry.com.au/whois , enter your domain name and the website will tell you who is listed as the legal registrant of the domain name. If you are not listed as the registrant, you will need to do a Change of Legal Ownership.
The cost involved to change legal ownership, is as follows:
All change of legal ownerships will forfeit any remaining time on the domain name registration and a new registration term will commence after the change of legal ownership is processed.
Firstly, you need to transfer the domain name to us, in order for us to assist you.
Transferring your domain name is free and you should NOT renew the domain name on transfer because a new domain name registration is required after a change of legal ownership.
See Transfer domains for how to transfer your domain name to us. It is usually fairly straightforward to transfer a domain name but if you have any problems, please let us know.
Then, after the domain has been transferred, login and under the ORDERS tab, click .au Registrant Name Change
Complete the forms and pay the invoice, and we will process your change of legal ownership and notify you when the registrant details have been updated.
You can also send an email to and let us know that you have put in a change of legal ownership request.
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
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 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.
For more information on auDA policy see, http://www.auda.org.au/