.au Domain Administration Limited (auDA) has released its 2021-25 Proposed Strategy for community feedback. Here we discuss the key points of the strategy and why auDA is asking for feedback from the community.

Creating a proposed strategy
The Proposed Strategy has been in development since 2020 with a number of internal workshops, but also external engagement including an interactive workshop at the 2020 NetThing Internet governance forum to gather early community insights.

auDA provides a breakdown of its strategic environment and opportunities on page 5 of the strategy. As auDA references, today nearly all Australians use the Internet and COVID-19 has had a significant impact on speeding up digital transformation. These changes informed auDA’s Proposed Strategy and how auDA considers its role in creating value for Australians.

All of this work has led to the creation of the Proposed Strategy that is now ready for community feedback.

The Strategic Focus areas
The Proposed Strategy for 2021-25 has three strategic focus areas: Trust, Innovation, and Multi-stakeholder engagement.

Trust is centred around improving the security of the .au domain by driving down DNS abuse, providing support for registry, registrars and resellers to improve the integrity of the .au domain, and raising the standards of security in the .au ecosystem.

Innovation is focused on building and improving the .au domain, including through the launch of .au direct registration, producing insights and investing in innovation. 

Multi-stakeholder engagement is focused on building the community through the auDA membership program and working to increase auDA’s influence in multi-stakeholder governance of the Internet.

The Proposed Strategy also outlines two strategic capabilities – people and governance – which will support auDA to deliver on its strategic purpose and vision.

Multi-stakeholder governance
auDA is a supporter of multi-stakeholder processes, where multiple parties who have a stake or interest in an issue work together collaboratively. As such, auDA is seeking comment in order to gain insights and feedback from the community it represents.

Feedback can be submitted until August 19 on auDA’s website where you can also download a PDF of the 2021-25 Proposed Strategy Consultation Paper.