What AUDA does

AUDA (.au Domain Administration Limited, ACN 079 009 340) is the Australian-government-endorsed administrator of the .au country code top-level domain, operating as a non-profit public company limited by guarantee incorporated in Victoria, Australia, since 1986. The organization manages 4,275,710 .au domain names as of June 2025, making it the world's seventh-largest ccTLD, and maintains 100 percent availability across the .au DNS, registry database, and WHOIS service for the 2024–25 financial year. Core technical infrastructure includes the .au registry, the public WHOIS lookup tool, the newly implemented Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) interface (deployed March 2026) for machine-to-machine access to registration data, and DNSSEC for DNS-layer authentication.

auDA generates revenue primarily through licensing fees charged to its network of 30+ accredited registrars, who in turn resell .au domain names at retail to Australian businesses, organizations, government entities, and individuals; a secondary revenue stream comes from membership fees paid by 6,547+ members who participate in shaping the .au namespace through multi-stakeholder governance processes. End-customer pricing is set at the registrar level rather than by auDA. Beyond registry operations, auDA runs a Public Benefit Program comprising the Community Grant Program (A$50,000 per project, 15 recipients annually), an R&D Grant Program (A$2.5M allocated across multi-year projects including quantum-safe DNS at Deakin University and cyberscam resilience at Monash University), the auDA Churchill Fellowship in partnership with the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, and the APIGA Australia internet-governance youth leadership program. The organization is governed by a Board comprising appointed, elected, and independent directors, with the Australian Department of Infrastructure holding a non-voting observer seat; in November 2025 Marina Go AM was appointed Independent Chairperson succeeding Alan Cameron AO.

Name

AUDA

Legal name

.au Domain Administration Limited

Website

https://auda.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

auDA (.au Domain Administration Limited) is the Australian-government-endorsed non-profit administrator of the .au country code top-level domain, managing over 4.27 million domains for Australian individuals, businesses, and government through a network of accredited registrars.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Domain Name Registry (ccTLD Administration)

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Information (51)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Directory Services & Identity Stores (LDAP/AD, Cloud Directory) (HDAEAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cloud Identity & Access Management Infrastructure (IAM/IdP/MFA) (HDABAHAF), Federation & Identity Standards (SAML/OIDC/OAuth, Federation Hubs) (HDADAAAG)

Keywords

• Domain name registry
• CcTLD administration
• DNS infrastructure
• Domain registration services
• Internet governance

Headquarters

HQ city

Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Domain Name Licensing: auDA generates revenue through licensing fees charged to accredited registrars for .au domain name registrations. The registry operations are funded through these licensing arrangements.
2. Membership Fees: auDA generates revenue from membership fees, with over 6,547 members paying to join and participate in shaping the .au domain.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

AUDA operates the .au country code top-level domain (ccTLD) registry on behalf of Australia, managing over 4.27 million .au domain names with 100 percent DNS availability in 2024-25. It licenses accredited registrars to sell .au domain names to end customers, provides public WHOIS and RDAP lookup tools for registration data access, and operates self-serve portals for members and registrars. AUDA also runs a Public Benefit Program with community, research and development grants, fellowships and leadership programs to support digital inclusion and internet governance in Australia.

Product overview

auDA (.au Domain Administration Ltd) is the administrator and self-regulatory policy body for Australia's country code top-level domain (.au ccTLD). The organization operates the .au domain name registry, which manages over 4.2 million domain names with 100% DNS availability. The core product portfolio includes the .au domain registry, WHOIS lookup tools, and the newly implemented RDAP interface for machine-to-machine access to registration data. auDA also provides member and registrar portals for stakeholder engagement. In addition to its core registry operations, auDA runs a Public Benefit Program comprising the Community Grant Program (supporting digital inclusion), Research and Development Grant Program (funding multi-year DNS and internet research), Churchill Fellowships, and the APIGA Australia youth leadership program. The organization is endorsed by the Australian Federal Government and operates under Terms of Endorsement for multi-stakeholder internet governance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• .au: The .au country code top-level domain managed by auDA, serving as Australia's primary online identity for individuals and organizations.
• auDA Community Grant Program
• auDA Research and Development Grant Program
• auDA Churchill Fellowships
• APIGA Australia
• auDA Foundation

Products and services

• .au Domain Name Registry The official registry for Australia's country code top-level domain (.au ccTLD), managing over 4.27 million .au domain names with 100 percent DNS availability and underpinning Australia's online identity for individuals, businesses, organizations and government entities.
• .au WHOIS Lookup Tool A public web-based tool that allows users to search for information about registered .au domain names, including registrant details and registration status, supporting the existing port-43 WHOIS protocol (RFC 3912).
• RDAP Interface Registration Data Access Protocol interface providing machine-to-machine access to .au domain name registration information in a structured format with enhanced security (encrypted connections) and privacy protections (controlled data visibility) for authorized users such as registrars, enforcement bodies and government agencies.
• .au Member Portal Online portal for .au members to access member-exclusive benefits, participate in .au governance, vote in director elections and engage with the AUDA community.
• .au Registrar Portal Self-serve portal for accredited registrars to access documents, templates, logos, knowledge articles and other resources needed to manage .au domain registrations and comply with .au policies.
• Community Grant Program Annual grant program supporting community-led education and research activities that enhance internet benefits for Australians through digital inclusion and innovation, awarding up to $50,000 per project across 15 projects annually and $750,000 in 2025.
• Research and Development Grant Program Large-scale, multi-year research and development grant program focusing on the DNS role, internet governance, technical resilience of DNS and digital inclusion, with $2.5 million awarded to two multi-year projects over three years.
• AUDA Churchill Fellowship Fellowship program delivered in partnership with the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust that supports individuals to conduct research in digital and internet landscape topics benefiting the Australian community.
• APIGA Australia (Asia Pacific Internet Governance Academy) Three-day leadership program developing the next generation of internet governance leaders in the Asia Pacific region, hosted by AUDA as the local chapter of the regional APIGA program run with ICANN and KISA.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% DNS availability maintained in 2024-25
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• APTLD (Asia Pacific Top Level Domain Association)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2027auDA was selected to host APTLD91 Members' Meeting in Brisbane in February 2027, bringing together ccTLD managers from across Asia Pacific to drive regional collaboration on technical, operations and policy issues.
• Winston Churchill Memorial TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 September 2025Partnership to deliver the auDA Churchill Fellowship program, supporting individuals to research digital and internet landscape topics. The Churchill Trust administers the fellowship, with auDA providing funding for research projects benefiting Australian communities.
• ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2025ICANN is the global coordinator of the internet's naming system. auDA works with ICANN on internet governance and hosts APIGA Australia as the local chapter of the regional APIGA program.
• KISA (Korean Internet & Security Agency)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2025KISA hosts the annual regional APIGA program in South Korea. auDA delivers APIGA Australia as the local chapter, with top participants invited to represent Australia at the regional program.
• Deakin University (with CSIRO-Data61 and QuintessenceLabs)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Research partnership for Safe transition to a quantum-safe DNS project, seeking to develop new encryption approaches addressing quantum computing threats to DNSSEC.
• Monash University (with National Anti-Scam Centre, Westpac, QUT, Brain Injury Matters)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Research partnership for Enhancing digital inclusion through strengthening vulnerable Australians' resilience to cyberscams, developing prevention and support strategies for people with cognitive disability.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Identity Digital: Identity Digital is a leading registry services provider operating multiple gTLDs including .info, .org, and .pro. Comparable to auDA as a registry operator, though focused on generic TLDs rather than a national ccTLD.
• VeriSign: VeriSign operates the .com and .net gTLD registries and provides critical internet infrastructure. Comparable to auDA in registry operations and DNS infrastructure management, though at a much larger scale and as a publicly traded for-profit.

Direct peers

• SWITCH: SWITCH operates the .ch ccTLD registry for Switzerland on a nonprofit, public-benefit basis. Comparable to auDA as a country-level registry operator with strong security focus and public service mission.
• InternetNZ: InternetNZ manages the .nz ccTLD registry for New Zealand as a nonprofit charitable organization. Comparable to auDA in serving a national internet community with a focus on digital inclusion and public benefit programs.
• CIRA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority): CIRA operates the .ca country code top-level domain registry for Canada on a nonprofit basis. It is the most direct comparable to auDA in terms of ccTLD management, nonprofit structure, and government-endorsed stewardship of a national internet namespace.
• JPRS (Japan Registry Services): JPRS operates the .jp ccTLD registry for Japan. Comparable to auDA in managing a large, technically advanced national registry with DNSSEC and modern protocol support, though structured as a for-profit entity.
• Nominet UK: Nominet operates the .uk ccTLD registry as a nonprofit. It is comparable to auDA in managing a large, mature ccTLD registry under a public-benefit governance model with member-driven policy processes.
• NIXI (National Internet Exchange of India): NIXI operates the .in ccTLD registry for India under a nonprofit, government-supported model. Comparable to auDA in managing a fast-growing national registry in the Asia-Pacific region with public-benefit objectives.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/auda
• Facebookfacebook.com/audafoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/-au-domain-administration-ltd-

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about AUDA