Submission
Submitted June 2026
Submission to auDA - .au Licensing Rules Review 2025 Draft Report
A public submission to the Policy Advisory Panel reviewing the .au Licensing
Rules, made in a personal capacity. The submission addresses all ten issues
identified in the Draft Report — covering domain name monetisation, allocation
rules for com.au and net.au, contested .au direct names, reserved names,
complaints and audit standing, domain lifecycle settings, scams, registrant
communication, eligibility transitions, and WHOIS accountability.
I recommend the Panel go further in four areas: clearer allocation rules that
distinguish monetisation as a commercial practice from monetisation used to
satisfy allocation requirements; greater compliance transparency through
aggregate public reporting; stronger registrar communication obligations before
expiry, suspension or cancellation; and explicit recognition that .au domain
names function as public signals of trust relied upon by registrants,
businesses, regulators and security teams alike.
.au namespace
Internet Governance
Digital Trust
Submission
Submitted April 2026
Submission to auDA - Consultation on auDA’s Purpose
auDA consulted on a revised purpose statement intended to be more accessible and memorable than the existing wording in its 2026-30 strategy.
In this submission, I support the goal of simplification while arguing that the draft underplays three aspects of auDA’s role: stewardship of .au and the naming system, trust as an operational outcome, and a clear public-benefit mandate for all Australians.
I recommend retaining explicit reference to auDA’s stewardship function and its role in championing an open, secure and interoperable internet, and I propose alternative wording:
“Safeguarding .au so Australians can engage online with trust and confidence.”
.au namespaceInternet GovernanceDigital Trust
Submission
Submitted April 2026
Submission to auDA - 2026 edu.au Consultation (Schedule A, Licensing Rules)
As part of the .au Licensing Rules review, auDA consulted on administrative changes to Schedule A for edu.au eligibility.
In this submission, I support the proposed updates to definitions and eligibility tests, while emphasising edu.au’s role as a trust-bearing namespace that carries legitimacy signals for students, families, providers and the broader public.
I highlight two areas requiring stronger clarification: published guidance and examples for the treatment of geographic terms, and a tightly framed, genuinely exceptional legacy-name exemption that preserves signal quality and avoids ambiguity in the namespace.
edu.auPublic InterestDigital Trust
Submission
2025
Submission to auDA - Draft 2026-30 Strategy
I contributed to a submission on auDA’s draft 2026-30 strategy, supporting its overall direction while arguing for stronger clarity around delivery, resilience, and public trust.
The submission welcomed the strategy’s alignment with an open, interoperable and secure internet, but noted that successful delivery would depend on executional agility and accountable governance.
It called for clearer success measures, a stronger risk and resilience narrative, explicit treatment of AI misuse and jurisdictional conflict, and greater transparency around automation and stakeholder co-design through delivery.
StrategyGovernanceDigital Trust
