Who runs it
.com.au is administered by auDA, and its expiry process is a registry where eligibility is tied to a current Australian business registration.
What happens after expiry
auDA's policy has historically been less forgiving than gTLDs, with a shorter path from expiry to availability.
The grace period
There is a period after expiry during which renewal is possible, but it is shorter than the gTLD norm.
Recovery after that
Recovery options after that period are limited compared with .com, which makes the expiry date matter more.
Worth knowing about .com.au
Australian presence requirements apply, and licence eligibility is tied to the registrant entity. A company that is deregistered can lose eligibility for its own domain.
What is true of every extension
- The domain stops resolving the moment it expires. The website and the email both stop at once, because both depend on the same records.
- Your registrar panel may still show the domain as active while the rest of the internet already treats it as gone.
- Every stage after expiry costs more than renewing did, and the last stage cannot be undone at any price.
Registry policies change. The shape of the process below is stable, but confirm the exact windows with your registrar before relying on a specific number.