Explainer · Software & systems
Texting customers under your business name? Unregistered sender IDs now show as 'Unverified'
Since 1 July, branded texts from sender IDs not on the ACMA register show as 'Unverified'. Who needs to register, how it works and what it costs.
If your booking reminders, appointment confirmations or marketing texts arrive showing your business name rather than a phone number, they now depend on a national register. Since the rules became mandatory on 1 July 2026, texts from a sender ID that isn’t registered with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) arrive labelled “Unverified”.
That label matters. The phone groups all “Unverified” messages into a single thread, alongside messages from other unregistered senders, including scammers. ACMA’s own advice to the public is to treat those messages with extra caution. A clinic reminder or a delivery update that lands there is easier to miss or ignore.
Why the register exists
The SMS Sender ID Register is part of the federal government’s Fighting Scams initiative. Scammers have used branded sender IDs to impersonate banks, government agencies and well-known brands, so their texts appear in the same thread as genuine messages. ACMA says Australians lost more than $13.8 million to text message scams in the first nine months of 2025.
Voluntary registration opened on 30 November 2025. The rules became mandatory on 1 July 2026.
Who needs to act
You need to act if texts go out under a name. That includes texts sent on your behalf by a booking system, practice management software, a point-of-sale or delivery platform, or a bulk SMS service. ACMA’s examples of organisations using branded texts include medical and dental surgeries, retailers, utilities and not-for-profits.
If you send texts from an ordinary mobile or landline number, ACMA says you don’t need to do anything.
How registration works
You don’t register directly. Your telco or messaging provider starts the registration with ACMA, and your authorised contact then confirms it through ACMA. Approved providers must offer to register sender IDs for their customers. If you send through more than one provider, contact each one you want to use. Each must be on ACMA’s list of approved providers.
For a business with an ABN:
- The sender ID must match your organisation. It has to match your registered business name, company name, trademark or domain name, and you must show a valid use for each ID.
- Your ABR details must be current. ACMA uses the authorised contact or service-of-notice email in the Australian Business Register.
- Your authorised contact confirms their identity. ACMA checks the organisation, and the contact verifies with myID.
Organisations without an ABN, such as some community groups and overseas organisations, can register an ID that matches a trademark or official name through a certified telco or its partner.
ACMA allows sender IDs of 2 to 11 characters, and providers may set stricter format rules. ClickSend, for example, says IDs must be 3 to 11 characters, start with a letter and contain no spaces.
Cost and deadlines
ACMA isn’t charging for registration at this stage. It says fees may be introduced in future and would be communicated before they start. Check whether your messaging provider charges its own fee.
There is no cut-off date. Businesses that missed 1 July can still register, but their texts will show as “Unverified” until they do.
The register’s penalties apply to telcos, which face court-ordered penalties of up to $250,000 for each breach of the register rules. For a business, the practical consequence ACMA describes is the “Unverified” label.
Checklist
- Check what your customers see. Send yourself a reminder or confirmation from each system you use. If it shows a number, you’re done. If it shows a name, keep going.
- List every platform that sends texts for you. Include booking, practice management, marketing, point-of-sale and delivery tools.
- Update your ABR details so the authorised contact or service-of-notice email is current.
- Match each sender ID to your business name, company name, trademark or domain. Pick the names you actually need.
- Ask each provider to register your IDs, and confirm the provider is on ACMA’s approved list.
- Watch for the ACMA email and complete the myID check promptly.
- Send a test message once registration is confirmed, and check it no longer shows as “Unverified”.
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Sources 9 sources
- ACMA: SMS Sender ID Register
- ACMA: About the register
- ACMA: Sending text messages with your business or organisation name
- ACMA: Registering sender IDs
- ACMA: Register a sender ID if you have an ABN
- ACMA: SMS Sender ID Register rules for telcos
- ACMA: SMS Sender ID Register goes live to help protect Australians from scams (June 2026)
- ACMA: Call to action for all organisations using branded SMS (November 2025)
- ClickSend: ACMA alphanumeric sender ID registration and usage