Celebrating 25 Years of .au

Australia Celebrates 25 years of .au

Australia’s Internet and business communities came together in Melbourne on Thursday 2nd of June 2011 at the Melbourne Museum’s King Tutankhamun exhibition for a gala event to celebrate 25 years of .au domain names and the benefits they have delivered to the Australian economy.

A highlight of the night was an exclusive tour of the King Tutankhamun exhibition with a focus on the role of technology in the 3000 year-old civilisation.

Key note presenter Dr Colin Hope, an associate professor and lecturer of Egyptology at Monash University, spoke of the importance of technology and communication in ancient Egypt.

“The Egyptians were at the forefront of technological innovation in the ancient world. Written and visual communication were extremely important, both of which were well developed by 3200 BC.”

Adrian Kinderis, CEO of AusRegistry (the registry operator for Australia’s two million .au domain names), drew parallels between the role of technology in ancient Egypt and today’s Australian economy.

“Much like ancient Egyptians used technology and hieroglyphics to innovate and progress their civilisation, the .au domain name has evolved over the past 25 years to be a platform for innovation and a driver of Australia’s strong digital economy,” Mr Kinderis said.

Mr Kinderis said Australia is punching above its weight in cyberspace. “Registrations in the .au domain hit the 2 million mark in March 2011, putting it into the top 10 country codes worldwide. In fact, the .au domain has the highest penetration rate in the world for regulated namespaces with restricted eligibility when you take into account our population.”

“We have made significant investments in the infrastructure and stability of the .au Registry. This has resulted in a highly stable platform which has strong support from the retail sectors of the industry. Because of this, the .au namespace is considered one of the most secure and trusted namespaces in the world,” Mr Kinderis said.

Chris Disspain, CEO of auDA, said all Australians should be proud of the strong and safe online environment .au provides.

“Just as Australia has a proud identity that it projects to the world, the .au space does the same for our online presence,” said Mr Disspain. “.au is Australia’s home on the Internet. It’s a safe, reputable environment and Australians know it. That’s why more and more people and companies are gravitating towards .au names that allow us to shop, live, work and play online with confidence.”

Mr Disspain said Australian businesses support the .au namespace because it’s the best way to identify yourself as a trusted Australian on the Internet.

“Helen Souness, Marketing Director for SEEK (seek.com.au) said: “As an Australian owned and operated business .au is a critical part of our branding. It makes us immediately recognisable as a local, relevant and trustworthy Australian company for our target market – Australian job seekers and employers.”

Chris Kotis, General Manager - Sales & Marketing for Pioneer (pioneer.com.au), said: “As a global technology brand, .au empowers us with the flexibility to tailor our global brand message to the Australian market. As one or more elements of the marketing mix may vary to suit the needs of individual markets, the .au domain ensures Australian customers can easily explore local Pioneer products and offers.”

Interesting statistics

• There are currently 2,094,149 .au domain names
• .au domain names are accessed more than 650 million times each day
• Approximately 86% of all .au domain names are registered under .com.au
• There are 10.4 million active Internet subscribers in Australia with an annual growth of 16.7%, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This excludes mobile wireless broadband connections which account for 4.2 million subscriptions.