Our partners: An interview with Bruce Tonkin, CEO of .au Domain Administration

From generic TLDs (gTLDs) to specialized .brands to country code TLDs (ccTLDs), Identity Digital manages the infrastructure that powers the modern web. Our partnership with .au Domain Administration (auDA) ensures that Australia’s digital home remains secure and resilient. We recently caught up with CEO Bruce Tonkin for an exclusive look at how auDA is evolving to meet the community's needs.

Why did auDA choose to partner with Identity Digital?

auDA appointed Identity Digital as the .au registry operator following a global tender and evaluation process in 2017 and again in 2023. 

Through both tender processes, Identity Digital demonstrated its technical capabilities and a shared commitment to best practice cyber security and reliable registry services. 

It has significant experience in the delivery of registry services internationally, supporting a range of country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) and generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs), and its globally distributed network of nameserver infrastructure supports the redundancy and resilience of .au. 

We work collaboratively with Identity Digital to support .au as critical national communications infrastructure.

What do you think the value is in making .au the primary online identity for Australians?

In an environment where online fraud is increasing, the .au domain helps people navigate the internet with greater confidence. 

A .au domain name signals the domain name holder has a verified connection to Australia, similar to an Australian passport. 

auDA oversees rules for .au, which are developed by the Australian community through multi-stakeholder processes. These rules, coupled with compliance activity to uphold the rules, mean internet users can have confidence that the organisations or individuals behind .au domain names are credible and have a genuine Australian presence. 

This community trust in .au is supported by research that shows three in four Australian consumers are more likely to trust a business if its website ends in .au, and around half will only purchase online if a business has a .au website.

What does auDA hope to achieve in upholding auDA’s 2026-30 strategic pillars of Trust, Innovation, Capability and Impact?

auDA’s Strategy guides how we deliver benefits to internet users in Australia and overseas, and how we strengthen .au and auDA for the future. We do this through four strategic pillars:

• Trust – we aim to maintain a secure and resilient .au through best practice security and raise trust in .au domain names by improving how we mitigate DNS abuse. We will also invest in research to enhance trust in the internet environment and continue to engage .au members to inform improved .au policies and approaches.
  
  
• Innovation – remaining nimble is essential in a fast-moving digital environment. We are exploring new technologies and approaches to help us operate more efficiently and explore new services that will improve the utility of .au.
  
  
• Impact – we work to deliver positive impact in our ecosystem. This includes supporting communities in Australia with digital inclusion challenges to engage online, upskilling Australians in internet governance and DNS, and helping regional ccTLDs to build technical and policy capacity.
  
  
• Capability – in a dynamic operating environment, we continue to build leadership and technical skills so we can confidently meet new and emerging challenges and continue to deliver value to Australians through .au.

auDA’s 2025 Digital Lives Research revealed some interesting statistics. What stood out to you most?

auDA’s Digital Lives of Australians is an annual research series to identify insights into the online behaviours and attitudes of Australian consumers and small businesses. We carry out the research to help inform industry, policymakers and the education sector as they develop policies and initiatives to support Australians online. The research shows that almost all Australians depend on the internet, making it an essential utility, like electricity and water. This raises the importance of trusted, reliable, resilient online services, and the need to support underserved Australians online to ensure they don’t fall further behind.

The research also highlights a gap between awareness and action when it comes to cyber security. Many Australians recognise cyber risks, but few take adequate steps to protect themselves. This tells us security shouldn’t be left solely to individuals to tackle. There’s a need for industry and government to embed Secure By Design principles in digital products, systems and applications.

Can you tell us about auDA’s Sustainability Framework, and the work auDA is undertaking to ensure environmental and social responsibility remain top of mind?

Our 2026-30 Strategy and our Sustainability Framework guides us to operate in an environmentally and socially responsible way, uphold robust corporate governance, and help us influence the domain name ecosystem to become more sustainable. 

On the social side, we support digital inclusion through our annual Community Grant Program, but also by promoting web accessibility among our members and stakeholders. We also invest in developing the next generation of internet governance leaders through our Asia Pacific Internet Governance Academy (APIGA) Australia and fellowships.

On the environmental side, we focus on reducing our operational footprint through sustainable workplace practices and waste reduction. We’re also exploring ways to better understand and mitigate emissions associated with our operations, similar to Identity Digital’s Trillion Trees partnership.

What work is auDA currently doing to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities?

auDA’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) guides how we engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Through our RAP we aim to build stronger relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, promote digital inclusion and unlock positive social and economic value through .au. 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are a key cohort in our Community Grant Program. In our 2025 Grant Round, we provided grants to help organisations build Indigenous data sovereignty, preserve cultural archives and expand a digital health program.

We also deliver the Australian Internet Governance Forum (auIGF) First Peoples Internet Governance and Policy Fellowship in partnership with Identity Digital. The Fellowship supports First Peoples to contribute to internet governance discussions and decisionmaking processes.

In May 2026, we’re also sponsoring the Tech For Social Justice conference, including First Nations Bursaries to enable increased representation of First Nations leaders and organisations in the technology for justice space. 

auDA is an active participant in global internet governance. Looking ahead, what do you envision auDA’s role will be in influencing future decisions?

auDA continues to play an active role in multi-stakeholder internet governance. 

We are closely involved in global policy discussions, including work within ICANN to develop policies for gTLDs to combat DNS abuse, which leverages auDA’s expertise in this space and supports a more secure internet environment. 

We are also committed to actively contributing to Internet Governance Forums (IGF). We sponsor the auIGF and contribute to its programming committee, to strengthen the Australian multi-stakeholder community and its shared contributions to regional and global discussions.

auDA was also a founding member of the Technical Community Coalition for Multistakeholderism (TCCM), created to strengthen the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance. In 2025, the TCCM made significant contributions to the 20 year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20). The outcome of WSIS+20 was a reaffirmed commitment by Governments in the United Nations to the multi-stakeholder model. The focus of the TCCM will now shift to advocating for improvements to the model so it remains effective over time.

A big thanks to Bruce for his perspective! Gaining a deeper look into how our partners operate helps us collaborate even more effectively. Stay tuned for more partner spotlights coming soon.