I had a client ask me last week whether the appointment reminder text their booking system sends out was “doing anything dodgy.”
Short answer: no.
But the Australian Government has decided that from 1 July, your clients’ phones need proof of that too.
Here’s what’s changing. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is rolling out a new SMS Sender ID Register, and it affects any business or organisation that sends text messages with a name at the top instead of a phone number.
Think “CrispMarketing” or “TheWealthDesigners” rather than a string of digits. If that’s you, and you haven’t registered that name yet, your messages are about to get a label slapped on them: “Unverified.”
Why this is happening
Scammers love a trusted name.
They’ve been sending texts pretending to be your bank, your GP, AusPost, whoever, because a familiar name at the top of a message makes people drop their guard.
ACMA’s fix is to make businesses prove they actually are who they say they are before they’re allowed to use that branded name on a text.
Once you’re verified, your name stays clean.
If you’re not, every text you send gets grouped in with the scam pile on your customer’s phone. That’s not a great place for your appointment reminders to be hanging out.
Who needs to care about this
If you’re a coach, a financial planner, a not-for-profit, or basically any business sending texts that have your business name on them rather than a mobile number, this applies to you.
And here’s the bit that catches people out: you might not even know you’re doing it. If you use a booking system, a CRM, or a marketing platform that fires off SMS reminders or updates on your behalf, there’s a good chance it’s already sending under a branded name.
Don’t assume your software provider has quietly sorted this for you. Ask them directly.
Crispy Tip
Check the last automated text your business sent a client. If the name at the top is your business name rather than a number, you need to register it.
What happens if you don't register
From 1 July 2026, any SMS sent with an unregistered branded name will show up as “Unverified” instead of your business name.
Worse, it gets bundled in with messages from other unregistered senders, including the actual scam texts.
So instead of your client seeing “Hi, it’s Aussie Financial Adviser, reminder your appointment is tomorrow,” they see “Unverified” sitting next to a message that might be trying to steal their bank details.
That’s not a great look, and it’s a fast way to have genuinely important messages ignored or deleted.
What to actually do about it
Registration happens through your telco or your message provider, not directly with ACMA in most cases. You’ll need to:
- Work out which sender IDs your business actually uses (check texts from your booking system, CRM, and any marketing platform)
- Confirm your telco or message provider is on ACMA’s approved list
- Register your contact numbers and sender ID details with them before 1 July
Applications have been open since November last year, so the window’s been there for a while. But the deadline is now close enough that “I’ll get to it” needs to become “I did it this week.”
This one’s a genuine case of better-safe-than-sorry. A few minutes registering a sender ID now saves your clients getting a scam-adjacent label on something as routine as a reminder text.