Free business email in Australia: set up your .com.au address

Whether you are a sparkie in Perth, a bookkeeper in Adelaide or a small online store in Sydney, a bigpond or Gmail address on the quote undercuts the business. You have an ABN; you can have a .com.au. This guide gets name@yourbusiness.com.au working with free mailboxes and correct DNS.

Quick answer

Register a .com.au (or the newer .au) with any auDA-accredited registrar using your ABN, create a free OquMail workspace, add the domain, paste four DNS records, create mailboxes. OquMail's free plan has no card requirement, so you pay only the domain fee.

Domain choice: .com.au, .au or .com

Australian domains are governed by auDA. A .com.au requires an Australian presence, usually an ABN or ACN, and the name must relate to your business. Since 2022 you can also register a direct .au, with the same presence rules. Registrars such as VentraIP, Crazy Domains, Netregistry and GoDaddy handle the eligibility check. Australian customers strongly recognise .com.au; a .com is common for businesses selling overseas.

• .com.au: requires an ABN/ACN and a matching or related name; the default for Australian businesses
• .au: shorter, same eligibility rules; worth registering to protect the brand
• .net.au and .org.au: alternatives for tech firms and not-for-profits
• .com: fine for exporters and SaaS; Australian customers still trust .com.au more

Why Australian customers trust a .com.au address

Tradies on hipages and Airtasker, allied health practices, real estate agents and e-commerce stores all send documents people pay against. Because .com.au requires an ABN, an email from accounts@yourbusiness.com.au signals a registered business. That matters for tax invoices, for quoting builders and strata managers, and for any work with government or larger companies. A domain address also keeps quotes@ with the business when a subcontractor moves on.

Step by step

1. Register yourbusiness.com.au with an auDA-accredited registrar, entering your ABN when asked.
2. Create a free OquMail workspace at oqumail.com. No card.
3. Add the domain in the dashboard and copy the four DNS records.
4. In the registrar’s DNS panel (VentraIP: DNS Records; Crazy Domains: DNS Settings; GoDaddy: DNS) add the MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records.
5. Click Verify. The live check shows which record is still missing.
6. Create mailboxes: info@, quotes@, accounts@ and one per person, up to 15.
7. Send a test from webmail, then add the account to Outlook, Apple Mail or the phone mail app using the settings below.

The four DNS records OquMail needs

Australian hosts commonly bundle cPanel email and pre-set an MX records (the settings that tell the internet where to deliver email for your domain). Delete it before adding OquMail's, and keep only one TXT records (short text lines in DNS used for email security) starting with v=spf1 on the root.

• MX — host @, value mail.oqumail.com, priority 10
• SPF (TXT at @) — v=spf1 MX (Mail Exchanger — where incoming email is delivered) a:mail.oqumail.com ~all
• DKIM (TXT at your selector ._domainkey) — v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=… (the exact key is shown in your OquMail dashboard)
• DMARC (TXT at _dmarc) — v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com

OquMail connection settings

• Incoming (IMAP): mail.oqumail.com, port 993, SSL/TLS
• Outgoing (SMTP): mail.oqumail.com, port 587, STARTTLS
• Username: your full email address (you@yourdomain.com)
• Password: the same password you use for OquMail webmail

What it costs

The domain is a yearly or two-yearly fee at the registrar. The email is free: OquMail's free plan needs no card and includes 15 mailboxes, 3 domains, 5 GB per mailbox, webmail, IMAP/SMTP, delivery logs and a send API. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 charge per user per month, which most sole traders and small crews do not need to pay.

Pitfalls common in Australia

• Using a bigpond.com, optusnet or iiNet address on the ute. Change ISP and the address is gone.
• registrar (the company where you bought your domain, e.g. Namecheap or GoDaddy)-bundled email with no DKIM: quotes to builders and property managers land in junk.
• Choosing SSL on port 587 in Outlook. It must be STARTTLS.
• NBN and mobile connections block outbound port 25. Port 587 is all you need.
• Letting the .com.au lapse because the renewal notice went to an old address. Auto-renew and update the registrar contact to your new address.

Common questions

Can I register a .com.au as a sole trader?

Yes, with an ABN. The domain name needs to match or relate to your registered business name or trading activity.

Does it work with Outlook and the Gmail app?

Yes. Add an IMAP account using the settings above with your full address as the username.

What are the limits on the free plan?

15 mailboxes, 3 domains, 5 GB per mailbox, no expiry.