What the shorter .au namespace means for Australian businesses, and whether you should register the match to your .com.au.
Direct .au registration lets Australian businesses register names such as yourbusiness.au alongside the traditional yourbusiness.com.au.
Most businesses register the direct match defensively and redirect it to their primary domain, which prevents a competitor or squatter picking it up.
You still need a valid Australian presence — an ABN, ACN or Australian trade mark — to hold a .au name, and the registrant details must match.
If you hold the .com.au already, adding the .au equivalent takes a minute in the client area and both can share the same DNS.