Important update: Mandatory national sender register - action required (Australia only)
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is launching a compulsory national Alphanumeric Sender ID Register to strengthen trust and reduce SMS scam activity. The ACMA's process aims to enhance trust and combat fraudulent messaging by ensuring all alphanumeric sender IDs are valid and verified. This aligns with broader efforts to protect end users from scams and spam.
What: Registrations open 30 Nov 2025 with enforcement in July 2026, all alphanumeric SMS sender IDs (your business name) to Australian numbers must be registered and approved by the ACMA to combat fraud.
Impact: From 1 July 2026 the Unregistered sender IDs will be labelled ‘Unverified’.
Action: As a Utilmate customer, you must register your sender ID to continue sending messages without disruption.
What you need to do
Although the Register is not yet open, we recommend commencing preparation now to support a seamless transition. To be registered, a sender ID must be clearly linked to your organisation. This helps consumers recognise who the message is from and reduces the risk of confusion or impersonation.
If you’re unsure of your sender ID, please contact us and we’ll confirm it for you. If you don’t have one, we recommend registering one anyway.
Registration steps
Step 1 - Registration on the ACMA Assist Register
Utilmate customers should be aware that for ABN entities, the ACMA Register will check the authority of the representative acting on behalf of an entity by cross-referencing the entity’s authorised contacts listed on the Australian Business Register (ABR). By engaging the ABR contact, the process is designed to ensure that only legitimate and authorised individuals manage the entity's Sender ID registrations.
We recommend that you check that your authorised contact on the ABR is up to date, as this authorised contact will be responsible for receiving communications/instructions from the ACMA and taking action to complete the registration within the ACMA Assist account / Register.
If your ABR authorised contact is up to date, you may also wish to set up your ACMA Assist account now to prepare ahead of time.
Your actions:
- Make sure your ABN and authorised business representative contact details for your entity on the Australian Business Register are up to date.
- Your alphanumeric sender ID will be validated against your ABR details to confirm you have a legitimate and appropriate use case for the alphanumeric sender ID you’re applying for.
- Your alphanumeric sender ID will need to match up with one or more of your registered business name, company name, registered trademark or website domain.
- Set up your ACMA Assist Account now to prepare ahead of time.
- The ACMA Register will check the authority of the representative acting on behalf of an entity by cross-referencing the entity’s authorised contacts listed on the Australian Business Register (ABR). By engaging the ABR contact, the process is designed to ensure that only legitimate and authorised individuals manage the entity's Sender ID registrations.
Step 2 - Registration of sender identification
Utilmate will initiate the registration of your sender ID. To do this, we will need to validate your IDs, and provide contact details of an authorised representative, ensuring these match the Australian Business Register. Our sms message partner will review the application to ensure there is a valid use case. If accepted, Utilmate will be informed.
Step 3 - Verification of the sender ID
The ACMA will then contact your representative (likely via email) to verify the registration in the ACMA Assist portal. We anticipate that the representative will need to verify their identity and potentially pay registration fees. Utilmate will be notified upon approval.
Formatting rules
To be eligible for registration, a sender ID must:
- Be 2 to 11 characters long.
- Contain only ASCII characters (32–126).
- Not solely consist of restricted words (eg “verify”, “notice”, “important”, “banking”, “alert") published on the ACMA’s website. You can find the complete list of words here.
- Contain letters, numbers, and symbols but cannot be numbers only.
- Not begin or end with a space or underscore.
- Not contain the word ‘Unverified.’
- Not be offensive, deceptive, or misleading.
- Have a valid use case (eg your registered business name, company name, trademark, or domain name).
Note: Sender IDS are case-insensitive ie Utilmate is the same as utilmate.
The ACMA considers a sender ID valid if it:
- Matches your organisation's name or a shortened version
- Is an acronym, contraction, abbreviation, or initialism of your name
- Includes extra words that relate to your organisation’s function, location, or message purpose (eg ACMA Alerts).
If the sender ID does not clearly identify your organisation, ACMA will not approve it.
For the latest updates
ACMA SMS sender ID register
ACMA Frequently asked questions
ACMA Assist registration guide