Posted by auDA on 20 January 2020
.au Domain Administration (auDA) is pleased to announce two initiatives in response to the catastrophic bushfires currently being experienced in Australia.
A temporary Major Disaster Policy comes into effect on 22 January 2020 and will give bushfire-affected .au registrants:
- an extra two months to renew their eligible .au domain names,
- two months to respond to .au domain complaints.
The policy aims to help businesses, associations and individuals to focus on dealing with the immediate impacts of the bushfire disaster without needing to worry about managing their .au domain names.
Due to the need for a quick implementation, auDA was not able to conduct the usual public consultation phase of the policy development process. However, auDA has consulted with the Department of Communications and the Arts, the registry operator and auDA-accredited registrars to ensure the policy is both feasible and effective.
More information about the policy can be found here: Major Disaster Policy FAQ
Also, to assist with the bushfire recovery efforts, auDA will be donating $1 from every .au domain name created in February 2020 to the Foundation for Regional and Rural Renewal (FRRR).
The donation will be made to the FRRR’s Disaster and Resilience and Recovery Fund which helps communities around Australia recover from disasters like the bushfires and also helps rural communities better prepare for disaster events.
It is expected that around 40,000 .au domain names will be created in February 2020, and auDA will publicly report the volumes in its normal monthly registry reports.
If your business has been impacted by the bushfires and you’d like further information on what remediation measures you may be eligible for, please phone 1800 RETAIL to discuss your options.