SMS - Alphanumeric sender ID

Australia only

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) requires all alphanumeric sender IDs to be registered in Australia. This is designed to build trust and reduce scams by ensuring that all sender IDs (the names displayed on text messages) are genuine and verified. As of 30 November 2025, all businesses sending SMS messages in Australia must register their alphanumeric sender ID through ACMA Assist.

Understanding sender IDs and how they help prevent scams

What is an alphanumeric sender ID?
An alphanumeric sender ID is the name that appears at the top of an SMS message, showing who the message is from. Instead of a phone number, you might see a brand or organisation. This helps people quickly recognise the sender.

Why does it matter?
Scammers sometimes pretend to be trusted organisations by using fake sender IDs — a tactic called impersonation. New government rules mean that all alphanumeric sender IDs must be registered with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) (ACMA Assist registration guide).  This registration makes it harder for scammers to misuse them and helps keep messaging safer for everyone.

Important links
The SMS sender ID register
ACMA Frequently Asked Questions
ACMA Assist registration guide

Who this applies to

This guide applies to Australian businesses that send messages using branded Alphanumeric Sender IDs.

Key roles (important)

• Authorised Business Representative (ABR contact)
  The ABR contact is the person who manages the business’s ABN. Only the ABR contact can initially set up ACMA Assist.

• Authorised ACMA Assist user
  An authorised ACMA Assist user is someone the ABR has approved (or delegated to) to approve Sender ID registrations. This may be the ABR themselves, or another person in the business.

Step 1: Set up ACMA Assist (required) 

This step must be completed by the Authorised Business Representative (ABR contact).

What this step does

It enables Sender ID registrations to be approved. Until this step is completed, no Sender IDs can be registered.

What you need before you start

• The MyID app, with identity verified to Standard level
• Access to the business ABN

👉 Set up MyID (Standard identity level) How to set up myID

How to complete this step

Follow ACMA’s official guide for businesses and organisations. It covers:

• Logging in to ACMA Assist
• Adding your ABN
• Approving Sender ID registrations
• Delegating approval to another authorised ACMA Assist user (optional)

👉 ACMA Assist setup and delegation guide SMS Sender ID Register – User guide for businesses and organization's | ACMA.

Note: The SMS Sender ID Register uses the Australian Business Register (ABR) to check if someone is an authorised representative of a business or organisation.

After utilmate applies to register your sender ID, you will receive an email asking you to access the SMS Sender ID Register to confirm your application. The email is sent to the contact you provided in your sender ID application. Part of the application confirmation process involves checking to see if you are authorised on the ABR to act on behalf of your organisation.

This means, to use the Register, you must have access to the ‘authorised contact’ or ‘service of notice’ email address listed for your business on the ABR, or be approved by an authorised contact on the ABR.

If the authorised contacts for your organisation on the ABR are not up to date, you will not be able to access the SMS Sender ID Register.

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.

You will need to provide to Utilmate:

• Confirmation that you have registered on the ACMA Assist Register (for ABN entities). If you have not registered on the ACMA Assist Register, we will not be able to submit your sender ID.
• Contact details for an authorised representative (first name, surname, email address and contact phone number), ensuring they match the details recorded on the Australian Business Register
• Business address
• Business website
• Business telephone number
• Your ABN

 

Step 3: Verification of the sender ID

After submission by Utilmate:

• ACMA will notify the authorised ACMA Assist user by email to verify that your organisation is authorised and the sender ID.
• The authorised user must log in to ACMA Assist and approve the request. We anticipate that the representative will need to verify their identity and potentially pay registration fees.
  

Until this approval is completed, the Sender ID will not be registered. 
Utilmate will be notified upon approval your your sender ID.

Formatting rules

To be eligible for registration, a sender ID must:

• Be 2 to 11 characters long.
• Include only characters 32–126 from the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) decimal codes. 
• 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). 

Sender IDS are case-insensitive ie Utilmate is the same as utilmate.

Valid use case

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. 

As an organisation with an Australian Business Number (ABN), your sender ID must match your organisation’s: 

• registered business name in the Business Names Register, and the status of the business name must be ‘registered’ 
• company name in the Australian Business Register, and the status of the related ABN relating to the entity must be ‘active’ 
• trademark included in the Register of Trade Marks or an equivalent international register of trademarks, and the status of the trademark must be ‘registered’, or  
• domain name for which your organisation is the “registrant” in the whois.auda.org.au database, and either: 
  • the registered domain name is used for a legitimate website that can be accessed via the internet, or  
  • the registered domain name is used for an active email account. 

Note: The sender ID for an organisation that does not have any ABN must match the organisation’s trademark or an official register or record in the country in which the entity is based.  

You can register a sender ID that:

• 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.

Useful links

How the SMS sender ID register works

How unverified messages will display