Telcos will be required to block scam texts or warn recipients they come from unregistered senders, under new rules to be introduced by the Albanese government.
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has revealed she will create a mandatory SMS sender ID register and direct the Australian Communications and Media Authority to either block or include a warning if a sender is unregistered.
Under the changes, the Acma will develop an enforceable industry standard, requiring telecommunications providers to check whether messages being sent under a brand name correspond with the legitimate registered sender.
The measure is designed to prevent scammers using names of banks, service providers or government entities like ANZ, Linkt or myGov to deceive Australians into thinking scams are from reputable sources.
The government believes the change will decrease the frequency and impact of SMS impersonation scams on consumers, restoring public confidence in SMS.
After a voluntary pilot phase this year which included the National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and the Australian Taxation Office, the government believes the register will be open for registration of sender IDs from late 2025.
“The SMS Sender ID Register is an important tool to protect hard-working Australians from increasingly sophisticated and organised scammers,” Rowland said.
“We’ve all received scam messages on our phones purporting to be from reputable sources – and it’s costing Australians millions of dollars every year.
“This mandatory register will enable these messages to be blocked or flagged as a scam – better protecting consumers from being cheated.”
The Albanese government’s crackdown on scams has included a promise to legislate compensation to customers and fines if banks and social media companies do not protect their customers and users.
The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, said the government’s coordinated approach was “among the most comprehensive in the world” and that the register would help “bolster our defences against the criminal scammers”.
Meta this week announced that from February it would require advertisers seeking to run ads about financial services to verify information about the beneficiary and payer. The measure, revealed by Guardian Australia, is designed to crack down on fake ads on platforms including Facebook and Instagram.
Complaints to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority topped 100,000 for the first time last year, and of those complaints 9,000 were related to scams. SMS are the most commonly reported scam delivery method.
