As a certified telco, you are required under the Standard to perform all of the following checks before you submit an application for a non-ABN entity, non-ABN entity associate or an entity with an ABN that wants to be treated as a non-ABN entity:
- confirm the identity of the person who has requested to make the application on behalf of the entity, using an identity verification service
- confirm that the person is an authorised representative of the entity
- confirm that the entity has been officially recognised or certified by a governing body, regulatory authority or accreditation organisation in the country in which the entity is based.
You do not need to provide evidence of these checks to the ACMA when you submit an application to register a sender ID on behalf of an entity. However:
- section 23 of the Standard requires you to keep records to demonstrate your compliance with the Standard
- section 24 of the Standard requires you to provide these records to the ACMA on request.
Key terms
ABN (Australian Business Number)
Has the meaning given by section 41 of the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999.
ABR (Australian Business Register)
The register established under section 24 of the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999.
ABN entity
An entity with an ABN as listed on the ABR.
ACMA Assist
ACMA Assist is the online portal for the ACMA.
Certified telecommunications provider (certified telco)
A participating telco that is an originating telco that has been approved by the ACMA to be a certified telecommunications provider. A certified telco can apply to register sender IDs and send sender ID messages on behalf of non-ABN entities.
Customer
An entity that has a contractual arrangement with their telco relating to the sending of sender ID messages.
Electronic messaging service provider (EMSP)
EMSPs are defined in section 108A of the Telecommunications Act 1997 and include providers involved in sending text messages, such as:
- SMS aggregators
- customer relationship management platform providers
- software as a service providers
- communications platform as a service providers
- automated marketing platform providers
- two-factor authentication providers
After the ACMA approves the application, and in accordance with subsection 4(3) of the Standard, an EMSP can comply with its obligations under the Standard by:
- fulfilling the obligations itself, or
- becoming an EMSP partner, by arranging with another participating telco to fulfill some or all of the obligations on its behalf under subsection 13(5) of the Standard.
EMSP partner
An electronic messaging service provider that has a direct relationship with an entity and who has partnered with:
- any participating telco that is an originating telco – if the EMSP’s customers are ABN entities, or
- an originating telco that is a certified telco – if the EMSP’s customers are a non-ABN entity.
and has arranged for the provider to fulfill some or all of the EMSP’s obligations under the Standard on its behalf.
Entity
One of the following who uses or proposes to use sender ID messages:
- an individual
- a body corporate
- a corporation sole
- a body politic
- a government entity (within the meaning of the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999)
- a partnership
- any other unincorporated association or body of persons
- a trust
- a superannuation fund (within the meaning of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993).
Entity associate
An entity who is authorised by another entity to send sender ID messages using the sender ID registered in the register for that other entity. Examples of entity associates are:
- a research company that has been engaged by a bank to send messages for the bank, using its sender ID
- a sports club that is authorised to send messages, using a sender ID that is owned by a sports league
- an advertising or marketing agency engaged by a business to run advertising and promotional campaigns, using a sender ID owned by that business.
International partner
An international telecommunications service provider that has a direct relationship with an entity and who has partnered with either:
- any participating telco that is an originating telco – if the international telco’s customers are ABN entities.
- an originating telco that is a certified telco – if the international telco’s customers are a non-ABN entity.
to make an application for registration of a sender ID and to send sender ID messages on behalf of the relevant customer.
Non-ABN entity
An international entity or a domestic entity without an ABN.
Domestic entities without an ABN may include:
- schools and educational institutions
- small non-profit organisations
- religious institutions or trusts
- social clubs and council groups
- hobby groups or neighbourhood sports groups
- individuals hosting one-off events, content creators or digital personalities
- foreign embassies and consulates based in Australia
- government entities/agencies
- small sole traders.
Originating telecommunications provider (originating telco)
A telco that agrees to send sender ID messages on behalf of any of the following:
- a customer
- an international partner
- an EMSP partner.
Participating telecommunications provider (participating telco)
A telco that has been approved by the ACMA to participate in the register.
Telecommunications provider (telco)
Any of the following:
- a carrier
- a carriage service provider
- an electronic messaging service provider.
Telco partner
An international partner or EMSP partner. Requirements relating to telco partners are set out in section 13 of the Standard.
Terminating telecommunications provider (terminating telco)
A carrier that is responsible for delivering sender ID messages to message recipients who are connected to a public mobile telecommunications service owned or controlled by the carrier.
Transiting telecommunications provider (transiting telco)
A telco that connects with other telcos to transit sender identification messages between 2 telcos over a telecommunications network.