The ACMA has made new rules that set out how brand identifiers at the head of SMS (such as "myGov" or "AusPost") can be registered and used in SMS messages.
The SMS Sender ID Register will give Australians confidence that the messages they receive are legitimate and not from scammers impersonating well-known organisations like government agencies, banks and delivery services.
From 1 July 2026, only registered sender IDs can be used in SMS and MMS. Messages with unregistered sender IDs will appear in a single 'Unverified' message thread on consumer phones, alerting recipients to a potential scam.
The new SMS Sender ID Register (Application, Access and Administration) Determination 2025 sets out criteria for sender ID applications, restricts the use of sender IDs that could be used to mislead consumers, and requires registered sender IDs to be clearly linked to the registering organisation, such as matching a business name or trademark.
The ACMA encourages organisations that use sender IDs to talk to their telco or message provider about their branded SMS from 30 November 2025 to avoid disruption to their SMS communications in mid-2026.
