AUSTRALIA MANDATES SMS SENDER ID REGISTRATION

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced plans to establish a mandatory sender ID registration system for SMS and MMS services. Organizations sending bulk messages will need to register their sender identities before transmission. The initiative targets reducing scam messages and spam that plague Australian phone users. Unregistered senders will face restrictions on message delivery. The ACMA will maintain a public registry of approved sender IDs. Implementation details remain under development, with the regulator accepting public feedback on the proposal. The scheme applies to both domestic and international senders targeting Australian numbers. Businesses currently using legitimate SMS services will need to complete registration to maintain messaging capabilities. The registration process aims to be straightforward for compliant operators while blocking bad actors. This follows similar initiatives in other markets seeking to reduce SMS fraud and improve message authentication standards.