From the 1st of July 2026, businesses that send SMS messages using an alphanumeric sender ID will need to register that sender ID. If your sender ID is not registered your messages won’t display your brand name, instead they will show as “Unverified” and may be blocked as spam.
The register is being managed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and can be accessed through the AMCAs online portal ACMA Assist.
For a breakdown on the new sender ID legislation you can read our previous post on the topic, or for information on how WEL can help your business register for a sender ID we also have a post about that.
Today we’ll walk you through the basics of the SMS Sender ID Register and what your business needs to do before the 1st of July.
What is the SMS Sender ID Register?
First, you need to know what the register is and why it’s important. The register is a government mandated system under the Telecommunications Industry Standard 2025, designed to stop scammers from impersonating legitimate businesses and brands.
The SMS Sender ID Register is a national database run by ACMA that will list all approved sender IDs. Under the new rules only registered sender IDs can be used after the 1st of July 2026. If a sender ID isn’t in the register, it will automatically be labelled as “Unverified”. This can damage your customers’ trust in your brand and reduce engagement.
Your business will need to work with your telco or messaging provider, like WEL, to register your sender ID. Your business can’t apply for it alone.
What action do you need to take?
If your organisation has an ABN and sends SMS or MMS messages using an alphanumeric sender ID then you need to work with a telco or messaging provider to register your sender ID.
Does your sender ID meet the requirements?
Your sender ID must:
- Be between 2 and 11 characters long
- Include only ASCII characters 32-126
- Not include only numbers
- Not have a space or underscore at the start or end
- Not contain only restricted words
- Not contain the word “Unverified”
- Not be offensive, deceptive, or misleading
- Have a valid use case (See below)
What is a valid use case for sender ID?
A sender ID must be clearly linked to your organisation or business. This protects your brand and reduces the risk of confusion or impersonation.
Your Sender ID needs to match your registered business name, company name, trademark, or domain name.
A sender ID can be registered if it:
- Is the same as your organisations name, or a shortened version (e.g. “Wel Corporation” can be “WelCorp”)
- A shortened or acronym version of your business name (e.g. “Australian Communications and Media Authority” becomes “ACMA”)
- Includes your business name, or shortened version and a functional (e.g. “WCorpAlerts”)
If the sender ID doesn’t clearly link to your business, it won’t be approved.
Are your ABR authorised contacts up to date?
To access the register after your telco provider applies to register a sender ID on behalf of your company, you need to be listed as an authorised contact on the ABR (Australian Business Register) or be approved by an authorised contact on the ABR. If your businesses authorised contacts aren’t up to date you may not be able to access the register and find yourself stalled while you get that fixed.
To update your authorised contacts, you will need a myID account.
How to set up myID?
- Download the myID app. You can find it on the Apple Store or Google Play.
- Open the app and enter your email address. You’ll receive a verification code by email, enter the code to confirm your email address.
- Set up your password and security settings
- Choose your identity strength. For business services you’ll need at least standard identity strength which will require identification like passport, drivers license, medicare card, etc.
Once you’ve verified your identification your myID account is ready for use and you can continue with registering your sender ID.
Apply through your telco provider
As a business you can’t directly register your sender ID yourself. You need to apply through your telco or messaging provider. We’ve outlined that entire process in a previous post, but we’ll summarise it here for you too.
If you have an existing provider, they should have contacted you by now to offer the registration of your existing sender IDs. If they haven’t, or you’re setting up new sender IDs, you’ll need to provide the sender IDs you wish to register, your business information including your ABN and entity name, website, business address, business phone number, and contact information for the person who will be handling the process on your end. You will also need to provide evidence that the sender IDs you wish to register fall under the valid use rules listed above.
When all that information is provided your telco provider will apply for the sender IDs on behalf of your business.
Confirm your sender ID in ACMA Assist
Once your telco submits the application, you’ll receive an email from the ACMA to the contact email address you provided. In the email will be a link which you can follow to log into ACMA Assist using your myID, you may be asked to confirm your ABN and entity name and your email. Once you’ve logged in you can go to the sender IDs tab, select the pending sender IDs and confirm the registration of the applications. It’s important to confirm the application or it won’t progress.
Once you’ve confirmed the application it will update from pending to:
- Registered by (date) – the sender ID will be registered by that date
- Complete – The application is complete and the sender ID registered
- Under Review – The ACMA has flagged your application for review, once the review is complete, you’ll be notified of the outcome.
What next?
Now that your sender IDs are registered your business is all set. You can manage your sender IDs, revoke or grant access to telco providers, cancel current sender IDs, or view the application status of new sender IDs.
If you have a marketing agency that sends messages on behalf of your company, you will need to grant them the authority to use the sender ID after they’ve been registered as an entity associate.
If SMS is an important part of your communication strategy with customers, whether it’s notifications, alerts, or marketing, registering your sender IDs should be a priority. You don’t want to leave it too late as there may be delays closer to July 1st due to a last-minute rush of companies applying. Guarantee your business is ready to go on July 1st with no interruptions by starting the process now. WEL is an approved telco so can apply for sender IDs on behalf of your organisation. Contact them today to get your registration started early and avoid any disruptions.
