Knowledgebase

1. BACKGROUND 

1.1 This document sets out auDA's policy on the renewal, expiry and deletion of domain names in the open 2LDs (asn.au, com.au, id.au, net.au, org.au) and the community geographic 2LDs (act.au, qld.au, nsw.au, nt.au, sa.au, tas.au, vic,au, wa.au).

1.2 This document does not detail the technical steps required to renew or delete a domain name. This information is contained in the registry's technical procedures manual, which is made available to all auDA accredited registrars.

2. TERMINOLOGY

2.1 This policy uses the following terms:

a) “Expiry Cycle” means an automated process at the registry where eligible domain names enter the “Expired Hold” or “Expired Pending Purge” state. The Expiry Cycle is every 5 minutes on every day, including weekends and public holidays;

b) “Official Domain Drop List” means the authoritative list of domain names that are due to be purged from the registry, which is published on the auDA website.

c) “Purge Cycle” means an automated process at the registry where domain names are purged from the registry. The Purge Cycle runs at 1.00pm AEST (2.00pm AEDT) on every day, including weekends and public holidays. 

3. DOMAIN NAME GRACE PERIOD

3.1 There is a 3 calendar day grace period during which a new domain name registration can be deleted, or a renewal cancelled, with immediate effect and the registration or renewal fee will be refunded to the registrar.

4. DOMAIN NAME LICENCE PERIOD

4.1 A domain name licence period is 1,2,3,4 or 5 years.  

4.2 Registrars may offer a service that allows a registrant to change the expiry date of their domain name to a date that is less than the licence term (known as “domain sync”). For example, a registrant with multiple domain names may wish to set a common expiry date for all their domain names. 

5. DOMAIN NAME RENEWAL

5.1 Domain names may be renewed a maximum of 90 calendar days before the expiry date, and 30 calendar days after the expiry date. Regardless of when the domain name is renewed, the new licence period is set from the previous expiry date.  For example, if the expiry date of a domain name is 1 January 2011 and the registrant renews the domain name on 1 December 2010 for a 2 year licence period, the new expiry date is 1 January 2013. 

6. DOMAIN NAME EXPIRY

6.1 The following procedure applies in the case of domain names that are not renewed on or before the expiry date (refer to diagram at Schedule A):

a) at the domain name’s exact expiry date, the domain name will become eligible for expiry:

(i) at the next Expiry Cycle, the domain name will transition from “Registered” to an “Expired Hold” state. This is depicted in the WHOIS by the status being shown as:

serverHold (Expired)
serverUpdateProhibited (Expired)

(ii) the domain name will be removed from the DNS (ie. it will no longer work on the internet)
(iii)       the domain name cannot be updated;
(iv)       the domain name can be renewed or transferred to another registrar;

b) exactly 30 calendar days after it enters “Expired Hold” state, the domain name will become eligible for expired pending purge:

(i)       at the next Expiry Cycle the domain name will transition from an “Expired Hold” state to an “Expired Pending Purge” state. This is depicted in the WHOIS by the status being shown as:

serverHold (Expired)
serverRenewProhibited (Expired)
serverUpdateProhibited (Expired)

(ii)       the domain name cannot be updated, renewed or transferred to another registrar;

(iii)       the domain name will be published on the Official Domain Drop List*;

c) exactly one calendar day after it enters “Expired Pending Purge” state, the domain name will become eligible for purge:

(i) the domain name will be purged from the registry at the next Purge Cycle.

7. DOMAIN NAME DELETION

7.1 The following procedure applies in the case of domain names that are deleted at the request of the registrant (known as “client deletes”):

*Community geographic domain names will not be published on the Official Domain Drop List.

a) at the time of the deletion command by the registrar, the domain name will transition from “Registered” to a “Pending Delete” state. This is depicted in the WHOIS by the status being shown as:

pendingDelete (Client requested delete)

(i)       the domain name will be removed from the DNS (ie. it will no longer work on the internet);

(ii)       the domain name cannot be updated or transferred;

(iii)       the domain name can be undeleted on the registrant’s instruction;

(iv)       the domain name will be published on the Official Domain Drop List*;

b) exactly 3 calendar days after it enters this “Pending Delete” state, the domain name will become eligible for purge:

(i) the domain name can still be undeleted during this time (if the domain name is undeleted, the domain name will be removed from the Official Domain Drop List);

(ii) the domain name will be purged from the registry at the next Purge Cycle.

7.2 The following procedure applies in the case of domain names that are deleted for breach of an auDA Published Policy (known as “policy deletes”):

a) at the time of the deletion command by the registrar, the domain name state will transition from “Registered” to a “Pending Policy Delete” state. This is depicted in the WHOIS by the status being shown as:

pendingDelete (Client requested policy delete)

(i)  the domain name will be removed from the DNS (ie. it will no longer work on the internet);

(ii) the domain name cannot be updated or transferred; (iii) the domain name can be undeleted on auDA’s instruction;

(iv) the domain name will be published on the Official Domain Drop List*;

b) exactly 14 calendar days after it enters this “Pending Policy Delete” state, the domain name will become eligible for purge:

(i) the domain name can still be undeleted during this time (if the domain name is undeleted, the domain name will be removed from the Official Domain Drop List);

(ii) the domain name will be purged from the registry at the next Purge Cycle.

SCHEDULE A

Refer to PDF Version for diagram