If your business sends text messages showing your brand name, there are some big changes that you need to be aware of.
From 1 July 2026 Australia’s new SMS Sender ID Register comes into effect. This isn’t something optional, it’s a government mandated system under the Telecommunications Industry Standard 2025 designed to stop scammers from impersonating legitimate brands.
Here is what your business needs to know and what steps you need to take.
What is the SMS Sender ID Register?
The SMS Sender ID Register is a national database run by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). It lists all approved Sender IDs, which are the names that appear in the “From” field when a text message arrives, in place of the phone number.
If a Sender ID name isn’t in the Register, it will automatically be labelled “Unverified” before it reaches your customer’s phone. (Schedule 1 (b))
The goal is to stop scammers and other malicious parties from impersonating real brands by delivering fake messages from banks, delivery services, the government, or any other trusted business.
Does the SMS Sender ID Register apply to you?
If you’re a business, organisation, or government department that sends branded SMS messages using a Sender ID, then this new legislation applies to you, and your organisation will need to work with your telecommunications provider to make sure you’re compliant.
This includes:
- Australian businesses with an ABN
- Non-ABN organisations (Foreign companies or Australian companies without an ABN)
- Government agencies
- Not-for-profit organisations
(Section 5 provides definitions)
How do you register your Sender ID?
Only approved telecommunications providers like Welcorp can register Sender IDs with the ACMA.
For your business the process is relatively simple –
- Contact your telecommunications provider. They will provide you written information about the Sender ID Register and how registration works (Section 9)
- Your telecommunications provider must register your Sender ID on your behalf. Your business can’t register it directly with the ACMA.
- You must provide proof that the Sender ID belongs to your business. Your provider will need to verify your “valid use case” before applying on your behalf. (Second 11 for ABN entities. Section 12 for non-ABN entities)
How do you prove the Sender ID belongs to you?
To register your Sender ID your provider must show that your Sender ID matches something that is legally tied to your business. This could be your registered business name, your company name, a registered trademark, or a registered domain name (website/email).
The Sender ID can be an exact match, a contraction or abbreviation, or an acronym, of any of the above names. So, if your business name is “Welcorp” some examples for your Sender ID could be “Welcorp”, “WEL”, or “WCorp”.
(Section 5(2))
What must your provider do?
Providers have a few new responsibilities under the new legislation, and you should be aware of their new responsibilities. So, what are they?
- Implement policies and procedures for compliance and complaint handling (Sections 19 and 20)
- Report scam messages in writing to the ACMA within two business days (Section 21)
- Provide a quarterly report to the ACMA on any disruptions, complaints, applications for a Sender ID, and the number of Sender ID messages sent and received. (Section 22)
- Keep the above records for two years, and ensure customer data is protected and secure (Sections 23, 24, and 25)
For your business, this means you will want to choose a provider that takes compliance and security seriously. Providers like Welcorp that keep all servers hosted in Australia already comply with Australia’s strict information protection legislation. You can trust your information is safe.
What are the key dates for the SMS Sender ID Register?
There are three key dates you need to know.
15 October 2025 – The first provisions start, including the registration process and compliance obligations for telecommunication providers.
30 November 2025 – Telecommunication providers must begin informing businesses of the requirements in writing and publish the details of the Sender ID Register on their website.
1 July 2026 – The Sender ID Register goes live. From this date any unregistered sender name will appear as “Unverified”
(Section 2)
It can be daunting ensuring that your business is compliant with new legislation. But it’s important to speak with your provider to make sure they’re on top of the new legislation and will apply for your Sender ID on your behalf. You don’t want your messages to be marked as “Unverified”. The time to start ensuring you’re compliant is now, rather than waiting till the last minute and potentially not hitting the 1 July cutoff. Welcorp is already making changes to guarantee compliance, speak to us today about what your business needs to know and what you need to do.
We have done our best to summarise the new legislation, but if you would like to read it yourself in more detail, you can find the legislation here. We have also included references where relevant, so you’ll be able to find the relevant information quicker within the legislation document.
