Texting under your business name could cost $17 to $25 a year per ID
The ACMA wants businesses to pay an annual fee for each registered SMS sender ID, likely $17 to $25, from 2027–28. Submissions close 4 December.
If your appointment reminders or order updates arrive showing your business name, you may soon pay a yearly fee for each name you use. The ACMA has proposed charging for every sender ID on the SMS Sender ID Register.
The ACMA doesn’t charge for registration now. It wants that to change from the 2027–28 financial year, and it has opened a consultation that closes on 4 December.
About $17 to $25 for each name
The consultation paper puts the indicative fee at about $17 to $25 per sender ID each year. That’s the register’s estimated $1.6 million annual running cost, split across the IDs on it.
The low end assumes about 89,600 IDs by 30 June 2027. The high end uses the 62,406 IDs registered on 19 October 2026. If numbers fall, the fee per ID would rise above $25. The ACMA expects fees to come down over time as more IDs are registered.
The fee would be charged per sender ID, not per business. An organisation texting under two names would pay twice.
You’d pay again every year
The ACMA proposes that from 1 July 2027:
- Each sender ID costs a fee to register. It’s paid when you apply, and the ACMA won’t register the ID until it’s paid.
- Registrations last 12 months. To stay on the register, you re-apply and pay again.
- Existing IDs aren’t grandfathered. The fee isn’t retrospective, but IDs already on the register would need to re-apply and pay when charging starts.
- There’s no refund if you’re knocked back. The fee applies whether or not the ID is approved, and it’s the same for a three-month registration as one with no set expiry date.
The ACMA is also weighing a single expiry date, 30 June each year, for every ID. That would save tracking separate renewal dates.
It doesn’t plan to charge a second fee to join the register itself. Charging can only start after a further consultation on a charging statement and government approval, which the ACMA says will likely be during 2027–28.
Your telco may collect it
Most registrations already go through a telco or messaging provider. The ACMA asks whether those providers should pay the fee when they lodge an application. How they recover it, up front or on a bill, would be up to each provider. Telcos already charge their own fees for sender ID services.
So the fee may turn up on your SMS provider’s invoice rather than as a payment to the ACMA.
Charities might pay less
The ACMA asks whether charities, not-for-profits and government agencies should get a lower fee or an exemption. It says a flat fee could hurt some organisations and deter them from registering. That could weaken the scam protection the register exists for.
Why the register matters
Since 1 July 2026, texts sent under a name that isn’t registered arrive labelled “Unverified”. The register is meant to stop scammers posing as banks, retailers, road-toll companies and government agencies. Our guide to the SMS Sender ID Register explains who needs to register and how.
The paper says 42,148 businesses and organisations had registered by 19 October. Scamwatch received 21,695 reports of text scams from 1 January to 7 October 2026, with losses of over $11.7 million.
Have your say by 4 December
Submissions close at 5pm AEDT, which is 2pm Perth time, on Friday 4 December 2026. Upload them on the ACMA’s consultation page or email SenderIDRegister@acma.gov.au. The ACMA publishes submissions, including names and contact details, unless it accepts a confidentiality claim.
Checklist
- Count your sender IDs. List every name your texts go out under, across booking, marketing and delivery systems. The proposed fee applies to each one.
- Drop the names you don’t need. Fewer sender IDs would mean a smaller yearly bill if charging goes ahead.
- Ask your SMS provider how it would pass on the fee. The ACMA is considering having telcos and messaging providers pay it and bill you.
- Budget about $17 to $25 a year per sender ID from 2027–28. That’s the ACMA’s indicative range; the final fee could differ, and would rise if fewer IDs are registered.
- Make a submission by 5pm AEDT on 4 December 2026 if the fee would affect you. Use the ACMA’s consultation page or email SenderIDRegister@acma.gov.au.
- Charities and not-for-profits: make the case for a lower fee. The ACMA asks what lower fees or exemptions should apply, and on what basis.
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