Who actually owns my domain name?

In Australia you do not strictly own a domain - you hold a licence to use it, granted under auDA’s rules for as long as you stay eligible and keep it renewed. Who holds that licence is the question that really matters:

• The registrant is the holder - the name recorded as registrant in the WHOIS record is the party auDA recognises, and it should be your business, not your web developer or agency.
• Why this trips people up - when a third party registers the domain on your behalf and lists themselves, they control your name, and recovering it can mean a dispute.
• The renewal catch - a licence lapses if it is not renewed, so whoever controls the registrar account effectively controls the domain’s future.

Check the registrant on a WHOIS lookup today - if it is not your business’s name, getting that corrected is the most important domain task you have.