The ACMA plans to launch a mandatory SMS Sender ID Register in mid-2026 to stop scammers impersonating trusted brand names. Businesses that send branded SMS will need to register and prove entitlement to their sender IDs.
A sender ID you do not register is a sender ID someone else can abuse. The register is the lock.
Australia is about to put a register behind brand text messages. The ACMA plans to launch a mandatory SMS Sender ID Register in mid-2026 to stop scammers impersonating trusted names in your messages app. If your business sends SMS using a branded sender name, this is going to touch how you do it.
The driver is scams. Criminals have spoofed bank, delivery and government sender IDs for years, and the register is built to lock legitimate senders in and shut impersonators out. Alongside it, the ACMA has restated its expectations on consent for e-marketing and telemarketing, so the messaging rules are tightening on more than one front.
For brands that text customers, the practical effect is registration and proof. You will need to claim your sender ID and show you are entitled to it.
Why it matters
SMS is one of the highest-engagement channels a business has, which is exactly why scammers target it and why regulators are stepping in. If you run SMS marketing or transactional texts and do not get ahead of the register, you risk disruption to a channel customers actually read. The ACMA enforces the Spam Act actively and has handed down real penalties, so consent is not a box-ticking exercise.
When the ACMA plans to launch its mandatory SMS Sender ID Register
This is friction now for trust later. A protected sender ID is worth more in a world where customers are taught to distrust every text.
What to do about it
Trust in messaging is eroding because of scams. The brands that lock down their sender identity early will be the ones customers still open.