Domain naming standards

The following requirements determine the eligibility of names applied for within the tas.gov.au domain and sub domains.

Business units / projects	Domain names for business units or specific projects should only be used if the requesting authority demonstrates a need for a web presence distinct from that of the parent entity.
Composition of names	All names should contain only lowercase letters (a-z), numbers (0-9) and hyphens (-) or a combination of these. Names should not consist entirely of numbers. Note: URLs with underscores or spaces are difficult to interpret in the printed format, due to hyperlink formatting.
Common acronyms	Names in the form of acronyms should not be used if they are also the name of a more broadly recognised organisation or company. Names of government departments, agencies or local government entities should be represented by the commonly accepted acronym for that organisation.
Electoral division names	Electoral division names should not be used.
English spelling	Names should conform to correct English spelling, grammar and syntax.
Generic words	Generic words, eg www.complaints.tas.gov.au should not be used, unless either: referring to an agency specific function; or the site is for whole-of-government use.
Geographical names	Geographical names should not be used unless referring to the name of a government department, agency or local government authority, eg www.brighton.tas.gov.au.
Long names	Domain names should be as short as possible and, ideally, less than 20 characters in length before the tas.gov.au part of the domain name.
Naming formats	Domain names for agency websites should be described in the format: www.agency.tas.gov.au.
Non-agency names	Domain names not consisting of an organisational name should describe the function performed by the project or activity.
Offensive names	Names should not contain obscene or offensive language, or otherwise prejudice the credibility or reputation of the tas.gov.au domain.
Other State / Territory names	Names preceding the State’s suffix should not refer or appear to refer to a State other than that indicated by the suffix, eg tas.nsw.gov.au.
Personal names	Personal names should not be used.
Political statements	Name that express a value judgement, political statement or bear any correlation to a registered Australian political party should not be used.
Registered trademarks	Registered trademarks or copyrighted text should not be used unless registered to the applying agency.
TAS identifier	Names preceding the State suffix should not contain either the words ‘Tasmania’ or the State suffix, eg www.ecommercetas.tas.gov.au.