Australia’s SMS Sender ID Register
The ACMA is the Australian Government’s communications regulator. We are responsible for managing the SMS Sender ID Register.
The register will protect Australian consumers and organisations by disrupting scam messages that use sender IDs. A sender ID is the short alphanumeric header used in text messages to show who the message is from, such as ‘RedCross’ or ‘MyGP’.
Messages with sender IDs sent to Australian mobiles from international telcos without an approved Australian partner will have the sender ID removed and replaced with ‘Unverified’.
Partner with an Australian telco
The type of Australian telco that you partner with will depend on the type of customers that you send SMS/MMS messages for.
- If your customers have an Australian Business Number (ABN), you can partner with any ‘originating telco’ that participates in the register (including a ‘certified’ telco).
- If your customers do not have an ABN, you must partner with a ‘certified telco’.
Your partnership with an Australian telco must be formalised through a written agreement.
View the list of Australian participating (including certified) telcos.
How sender ID messages will reach Australians
Your Australian telco partner is responsible for registering sender IDs on behalf of your customers who want to send messages to Australian mobile phones.
You must have written arrangements with your Australian telco partner to facilitate the registration. These arrangements will require you to obtain certain information from your customer, including evidence that the customer has a valid reason to use the sender ID they are seeking to register. For example, the sender ID matches the customer’s company name.
If the sender ID is not registered (for example, because the customer is not able to demonstrate they have valid reason to use the sender ID), the Australian telco will replace the sender ID with the word ‘Unverified’ before sending or terminating the message.