The Board of the policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au domain space, auDA, has established a Policy Review Panel to advise on what it calls “the most substantial changes to the .au domain name space in 30 years”.

According to the Terms of Reference, the Panel’s role is two-fold:

1. to recommend a mechanism for implementation of direct registration; and
2. to review and reform all existing auDA policies (other than the policies on dispute resolution and on education).

The Panel is chaired by John Swinson, partner King & Wood Mallesons.  Other members of the Panel are:

• Supply class representative: Brett Fenton, Chief Technology Officer, Melbourne IT Group
• Demand class representative: Ned O’Meara, Domainer and Publisher of Domainer.com.au
• Government regulator representative: Paul Zawa, General Manager, Enforcement Operations Victoria, ACCC
• Consumer protection representative: Narelle Clark, Director of Operations – Deputy CEO, ACCAN
• Academic representative: Andrew Christie, Chair of Intellectual Property, Melbourne Law School