SMS Sender ID Register: what practices need to do for patient texts

Since 1 July 2026, texts from unregistered sender IDs show as “Unverified”. How practices register for appointment and recall messages.

1 July 202611 min read

The SMS Sender ID Register commenced on 1 July 2026. If your practice sends text messages that show your practice name at the top, rather than a phone number, that name is a “sender ID”. Messages sent with a registered sender ID continue to display the name. Messages sent with an unregistered sender ID must now be labelled “Unverified” by the telco and grouped together in a single message thread with other unverified messages, which can include scams.

For practices, this is mostly about appointment reminders, recall notices, results notifications and marketing texts. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) specifically named medical and dental surgeries among the organisations that should register. A reminder that arrives as “Unverified”, sitting next to scam messages, is likely to be ignored or deleted, and patients may stop trusting texts from you altogether.

What changed

The register is an anti-scam measure run by the ACMA as part of the Government’s Fighting Scams initiative. Its purpose is to make it harder for scammers to impersonate trusted organisations by sending texts that appear to come from them.

The key dates and facts are:

30 November 2025: businesses and organisations could begin registering sender IDs through their telco, according to the ACMA.
1 December 2025: the ACMA issued an urgent call to action to all organisations using branded SMS, naming banks, medical and dental surgeries, retailers, utilities and not-for-profits.
1 July 2026: the register commenced. Messages from registered sender IDs continue to show the name. Messages from unregistered sender IDs must be labelled “Unverified” by the telco and grouped in one thread.

When the register went live, ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said SMS is used for important services “including medical appointment reminders”, and that while the register grows, messages from unregistered sender IDs are being labelled rather than blocked. She said “there is no cut-off date for registration”, and that organisations that rely on branded SMS and have not registered should contact their messaging provider as soon as possible.

Who it applies to

The register applies to any organisation that sends SMS or MMS messages using a branded sender ID, meaning a name such as your practice name, rather than a phone number. That includes:

GP clinics, specialist rooms, dental practices and allied health practices
day hospitals and multi-site groups
practices that send texts through practice management software, online booking systems or a separate SMS platform
marketing agencies or other businesses sending texts on behalf of a practice using the practice’s sender ID.

If your messages only ever come from a phone number, you do not need to register. The ACMA’s FAQs say no action is required if your messages display a phone number instead of a sender name.

Who carries the legal obligations

The legal obligations and penalties fall on telcos, not on the businesses sending messages. The ACMA has said telcos face court-ordered penalties of up to $250,000 for each contravention of the register rules. From 1 July 2026, telcos must participate in the register to send messages with sender IDs, and messages sent by non-participating telcos and message providers using sender IDs are blocked. For your practice, the consequence of not registering is practical rather than legal: your messages are labelled “Unverified”.

What the rules require

Register through your telco or message provider

Registration is done through a participating telco or message provider. For an organisation with an ABN, the ACMA describes three steps:

Contact each telco or message provider you use to send sender ID messages, and check it is on the ACMA’s list of approved telcos and message providers.
Give them the sender ID or IDs you want to register. You will need to show a valid use case for each sender ID, meaning it matches your identity and is clearly linked to your organisation.
Confirm the registration. You will need to pass checks verifying your organisation, your identity and your authority to act for it. The ACMA conducts the checks and contacts you using the email you gave your telco. You will need to verify your identity using myID.

The ACMA says you can only authorise a telco to send messages with your sender ID by registering it through that telco. If you use more than one provider, for example your practice software for reminders and a separate platform for newsletters, you need to deal with each one.

Keep your ABR details up to date

To register with an ABN, your authorised contact or service of notice email address in the Australian Business Register (ABR) must be current. The ACMA’s FAQs say that to access the register through ACMA Assist you need an email address recorded as an authorised contact or service of notice email on the ABR, and a myID with at least Standard identity strength. The ACMA does not use Relationship Authorisation Manager for this. Practices often find that the ABR email belongs to a former manager or an accountant, so check this first.

Choose a sender ID that meets the criteria

The ACMA says a sender ID must:

consist only of standard letters, numbers and symbols
be at least 2 and no more than 11 characters long
not consist only of numbers
not start or end with a space or underscore
not contain the word “Unverified”
not contain offensive, deceptive or misleading words
not consist only of restricted words.

For an organisation with an ABN, the sender ID must match your registered business name, company name, trade mark or domain name. It can be a shortened version, an acronym or initialism, or include extra words relating to your role, location or the purpose of the message. Sender IDs are not case sensitive.

Avoid restricted words on their own

The ACMA will not register sender IDs made up only of restricted words, which include words such as “alert”, “info”, “message”, “notice”, “service”, “support” and “urgent”. These words can be used when combined with characters that identify your organisation. Using the ACMA’s own example, “Alert” cannot be registered but “ACMA Alert” can. In practice, build your sender ID around your practice name.

If someone sends texts for you

If an agency or another business sends texts on your behalf using your sender ID, the ACMA calls them an “entity associate”. From 1 July 2026, they cannot send messages using your sender ID unless they have been approved to participate in the register, the sender ID is registered, and you have confirmed they have your consent. Their telco submits applications for them to participate and for your sender ID to be registered with your consent. If you have an ABN, your representative will receive an email with a link to confirm the application.

What it means for your marketing and patient messaging

Appointment reminders and recalls

These are the messages most at risk. Patients are used to reminders arriving under your practice name. If they now arrive as “Unverified”, patients may ignore them, which can increase missed appointments, or may report them as scams. Check what your messages look like on a phone today.

Marketing texts

The register does not change the spam rules. Marketing texts still need consent and a working unsubscribe under the Spam Act 2003. The ACMA’s enforcement action against Luxottica, announced on 10 April 2024, is a useful reminder of how seriously it treats unsubscribe failures. Luxottica paid a $1,512,500 penalty after sending 91,231 marketing emails without a functional unsubscribe facility and 112,348 texts and emails to customers who had unsubscribed, between November 2022 and May 2023. About half of the emails without an unsubscribe were order confirmations and password reset messages that also included or linked to commercial content. The ACMA said once emails include that kind of marketing content, they are commercial under the spam rules and must include an unsubscribe option.

For practices, the lesson carries over to SMS. If you add promotional content, such as a special offer or a new service announcement, to an appointment reminder or recall text, that message may become a commercial message that needs an unsubscribe.

Website and patient communications

Tell patients how you contact them. A short note on your website, in your new patient forms and in your email footer can say what sender name your texts will come from, and that you will never ask for passwords or payment details by text. The ACMA says that when customers know an organisation only contacts them using a certain registered sender ID, they know to treat messages from phone numbers or “Unverified” messages with caution.

Multiple systems and multiple sites

Practices often send texts from several systems: practice management software, an online booking platform, a recall tool, a review request tool and a marketing platform. Each may use a different provider. Make a list and check each one. For multi-site groups, decide whether to use one sender ID for the group or separate IDs for each location, and make sure each one matches a name you can show is yours.

Review request texts

If you send texts asking patients to leave a review, these also use your sender ID. Separately, remember that the National Law prohibits using testimonials in advertising a regulated health service, and the ACCC has raised concerns about review practices that steer happy customers to public reviews and unhappy ones elsewhere.

Common mistakes we see

Assuming the software vendor handled it. Some providers register on your behalf, but you still need to confirm the application through the ACMA link.
Missing the confirmation email. The ACMA email is titled “SMS Sender ID Register: request to confirm your application” and goes to the address your telco provided. It can end up in junk mail.
Out-of-date ABR contacts, so the person trying to confirm is not recognised as an authorised contact.
Registering with one provider only when the practice uses several.
Using a generic sender ID that does not clearly match the practice name.
Adding promotions to reminders without an unsubscribe.

A practical checklist

List every system that sends texts for your practice, and the provider behind each one.
Check which messages use a branded sender ID and which come from a phone number.
Confirm each provider is on the ACMA’s list of approved telcos and message providers.
Check your ABR authorised contact and service of notice email addresses are current.
Make sure the person confirming the registration has a myID with at least Standard strength.
Choose sender IDs that match your business name, company name, trade mark or domain name, within 11 characters.
Ask each provider to register your sender ID, then confirm through the ACMA email link.
Check the status in ACMA Assist. “Complete” means approved and registered.
If an agency sends texts for you, make sure it has applied as an entity associate and that you have confirmed consent.
Send a test message to a staff phone and check how it displays.
Tell patients which sender name you use.
Review reminder and recall templates for promotional content and add an unsubscribe where needed.

How this fits with other rules

Spam Act 2003. The register is a separate anti-scam measure. It does not replace the consent and unsubscribe rules for commercial messages.

Privacy Act. Patient phone numbers are personal information. Use them consistently with your privacy policy and the purpose for which you collected them.

Ahpra and the National Law. Promotional texts from a practice are advertising of a regulated health service and must meet the National Law advertising rules, including the bans on misleading claims and testimonials.

TGA. Promotional texts that mention therapeutic goods must also meet TGA advertising rules.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a deadline to register?

The register started on 1 July 2026, and unregistered sender IDs are now labelled “Unverified”. The ACMA has said there is no cut-off date for registration, so you can still register. Until you do, your messages will show as “Unverified”.

Will unregistered messages be blocked?

The ACMA said that while the register grows, messages from unregistered sender IDs are being labelled rather than blocked. Messages sent by telcos that do not participate in the register are blocked, so make sure your provider is participating.

Do we need to register if our texts come from a mobile number?

No. The ACMA says you do not need to register if you only send messages from a phone number and do not use a branded sender ID.

Are there fees?

The ACMA says it will consult on fees in the future. Your telco or message provider may have its own charges.

Can we use our practice name if another business has a similar name?

The ACMA says a sender ID can be registered and used by multiple organisations if each can prove it has a valid use case. Choose a sender ID that clearly matches your own registered name, trade mark or domain name.

How long does registration take?

The ACMA’s FAQs say most applications are approved within 24 hours, but some are marked “Under review” as part of routine checks and may take longer.

Need a hand?

If your patient messaging runs through several systems, we can help you map them, check templates against the spam and advertising rules and keep reminders separate from promotions. See our patient email marketing service, or ask about compliance training for the staff who manage your messaging.

This article is general guidance based on the published rules, not legal advice. Final responsibility for advertising sits with the registered practitioner and the practice, and complex situations may need independent legal advice.