From today, 1 July 2026, any business that sends texts with its name at the top — a “branded sender ID” — has to have that ID registered, under new ACMA rules. Unregistered sender IDs will start showing up as “Unverified”, and texts sent through telcos or messaging providers that haven’t joined the scheme can be blocked outright. It’s part of the government’s Fighting Scams push to stop crooks impersonating real brands over SMS.

Venues lean on SMS more than most. Booking confirmations, “your table’s ready”, waitlist pings and the odd promo all go out with the venue’s name on top — and that name is exactly what the register governs. If your sender ID isn’t registered, those messages could land as “Unverified” (not a great look when you’re confirming a Saturday booking) or not arrive at all. For the Northern Beaches hospitality crowd we work with around Brookvale and Manly, a text that doesn’t land is often the difference between a full room and a no-show.

Here’s the catch we keep running into: most venues don’t actually send these texts themselves. Your booking platform or marketing tool does it for you, using your venue’s name as the sender. That creates a grey area over who registers the ID — you or the provider. ACMA does let approved providers send on behalf of a business, but someone still has to do the registration using your ABN and a contact listed on the Australian Business Register. Don’t assume it’s been handled.

So this week, email your booking and SMS providers and ask one thing in writing: “Is our branded sender ID registered, and are you a participating provider?” If you send any texts directly, start your registration through your telco now — you’ll need your ABN. If you’d rather not chase it, sorting out exactly this kind of thing is part of how we run IT for hospitality venues and manage their phones and messaging.