September 7, 2026, was the day we published our article “The day auDA ruined 26 years of Australian domain name trust and value,” and oh how right we were.
Here is what the world is saying about the auDA Board Members recent decision to delete subparagraph (f) from clause 2.4.4(2) of the .au Licensing Rules, which will cause millions of Australian domain names to be deleted…
The Australian – More than 2.7m businesses at risk of losing web domain names
SBS – ‘We don’t understand’: Little-noticed change could hit millions of Australian websites
DNjournal – In Bewildering Move Australia’s .AU Domain Administrator (AuDA) Decapitates Its Own .com.au SLD
DomainNameWire – auDA decision could impact millions of .com.au domain registrations
SmartCompany – Could your business lose its .com.au? Domain name rule change sparks fears
Erhan Karabardak (former auDA Chair) – Linked In Article
Profit.com.au – Who’s Steering The auDA Ship on the Licensing Rules?
Profit.com.au – It Just Doesn’t Weigh Up auDA!
Internet Commerce – ICA Objects to auDA Plan to Scrap 25-Year-Old .au Registration Pathway
Mills IP – what auDA’s .com.au rule change could mean for your business
Michael West says auDA have created a scam – Own an AU domain? You may soon lose it. What’s the scam?
TelcoNews – auDA faces backlash over .com.au eligibility shake-up
WebHosting.Today – auDA Backs Removing a .com.au Allocation Route. Domain Monetization Stays Allowed.
ASCIO – What auDA’s new .com.au eligibility rules could mean for your domains
If and when the auDA Board famously ‘backflips’ on “deleting subparagraph (f) from clause 2.4.4(2) of the .au Licensing Rules”, certain “leading” board members, who championed (and perhaps help create?) the approval of this clause in the first place, will surely be swiftly ousted.
The current auDA Board members are: Marina Go, Sandra Davey, Peter Elford, Brett Fenton, Sarv Girn, Sandra Hook, Claire Rogers, Thu-Trang Tran, Mike Trovato, Tina Wyer.
Did ALL of these auDA Board Members agree to make this monumental stupid decision? Did they ALL lack the common sense to understand the backlash and damage it would cause to hundreds of thousands of Australian businesses? Or was it just one or two championing it with a few weak-sheep following blindly along?
In any case, the auDA Board will be proven incompetent the moment they backflip on deleting subparagraph (f).
Be sure to keep checking Assets.com.au for the latest on this crazy moment in time for Australian domain names over the coming months.
Generic domain name flowers.com.au fetched a final price of $153,000 during Australia’s historic 2002 generic domain name auction
The auDA board needs to be sacked immediately, or its members need to do the right thing and resign.
Was this massive auDA Stuff Up caused by a specific ex-Registrar worker now auDA Director or who?
Marina Go
Sandra Davey
Peter Elford
Brett Fenton
Sarv Girn
Sandra Hook
Claire Rogers
Thu-Trang Tran
Mike Trovato
Tina Wyer
They ALL need to be sacked! Totally Incompetent
I think the main issue is the board were not provided facts by auDA staff or the policy panel Chairperson before, but NOW they do have all the facts.
Before Noone provided them:
How many names were involved
The costs of deleting clause F
Registrar concerns
Historical Information why auDA created clause F & kept it for over 20 years
They never read the facts in 2019 The Dept of Communications & Minister wrote to them and told them to keep it in ( clause F was deleted in 2019 & put back in due to the uproar)
If the board continue to move ahead to remove clause F then The board will be removed.
Auda & Commonwealth will face a Class Action & various other methods.
Crazy auDA have still decided to Delete Clause F for new Registrations
Existing registrations will remain eligible until COR or dropped / not renewed