Explanatory Statement
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Communications
Telecommunications Act 1997
Telecommunications (SMS Sender ID Register Industry Standard) Amendment Direction (No.1) 2025
Authority
The Telecommunications (SMS Sender ID Register Industry Standard) Amendment Direction (No.1) 2025 (the Amendment Direction) is made by the Minister for Communications (the Minister) under subsection 125AA(4) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 (the Act).
Subsection 125AA(4) of the Act enables the Minister to direct the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to determine an industry standard that applies to participants in a specified section of the telecommunications industry and deals with one or more matters relating to the telecommunications activities of those participants.
Subsection 125AA(1) of the Act provides that the ACMA may, by legislative instrument, determine an industry standard that applies to participants in a particular section of the telecommunications industry and deals with one or more matters relating to the telecommunications activities of those participants. Subsection 125AA(5) of the Act provides that the ACMA can only determine an industry standard under subsection 125AA(1) if directed to do so by the Minister. In reliance on subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, the power in subsection 125AA(1) is construed to be exercisable in the like manner and subject to like conditions (if any), to amend or vary any such instrument.
Purpose and operation
The Amendment Direction varies the Telecommunications (SMS Sender ID Register Industry Standard) Direction 2025 (the 2025 Direction) issued to the ACMA on 4 February 2025, to provide for an adjusted timeframe for the ACMA to make the industry standard required by the 2025 Direction, changing the date to no later than 30 September 2025 (reflecting essentially a 3 month extension).
This Amendment Direction is a legislative instrument for the purpose of the Legislation Act 2003. However, this Direction is not subject to disallowance or sunsetting, as it is a direction by a Minister to a person or body (see item 2 of the table in section 9 and item 3 in the table in section 11 of the Legislation (Exemptions and Other Matters) Regulation 2015.
Background
The harms of Short Message Service (SMS) scams are profound and have had a significant impact on the lives of Australians.
To combat these scams, the Government has enacted legislation, the Telecommunications Amendment (Sender ID Register) Act 2024 (the Amendment Act), which provides for the ACMA to establish and maintain an SMS Sender ID Register (the Register). The Register’s main objectives include decreasing the frequency and impact of SMS impersonation scams on consumers and increasing protections for legitimate brands and agencies against bad actors impersonating them. On 3 December 2024, the Government announced that registration of sender IDs would be mandatory.
On 4 February 2025, the then Minister for Communications, The Hon. Michelle Rowland MP, issued the 2025 Direction requiring the ACMA to develop an industry standard (the Standard). The Standard, when made, will apply to carriers, carriage service providers and, if the ACMA considers it necessary, electronic messaging service providers, in relation to their telecommunications activities in connection with the operation and administration of the Register. The Standard must also deal with how communications from all sender IDs (whether these sender IDs are on the Register or not), will be handled.
Proposed changes to Direction
Between 27 March 2025 and 28 April 2025, the ACMA conducted public consultation on the proposed rules, implementation and operation of the Register. A draft Standard was circulated as part of the consultation.
The consultation identified specific complexities about a significant potential barrier to participation in the Register by overseas entities. Specifically, stakeholders noted there is substantial legitimate traffic using sender IDs that comes into Australia from international entities, including via offshore telecommunications providers (for example, if a person has a bank account in a foreign country, and the bank sends that person an SMS). These SMS would be potentially over stamped as likely scams or blocked under the draft Standard on which the ACMA consulted.
Progressing a workable solution is underway; however, this will take time, and will require additional consultation. Making a substantially revised standard by 30 June 2025 to address this issue is not considered feasible without substantial risk.
Accordingly, the Amendment Direction directs the ACMA to make the Standard by 30 September 2025 (a 3-month extension from the current date). There is no change to the date for the full implementation of the Register once the Standard has been made, which was a feature of the 2025 Direction, which remains at the earliest practical opportunity and no later than 15 December 2025.
Impact Analysis
The Office of Impact Analysis has advised that an Impact Analysis is not required for the Direction (OIA reference: 23-04795).
Consultation
Consultation on the 2025 Direction issued in February 2025 was undertaken with representatives of the telecommunications industry, Communications Alliance, the Treasury, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the ACMA.
Consultation on the Amendment Direction was not considered necessary. This is because changes proposed emanated directly from feedback received by the ACMA during its March-April 2025 consultation (refer to Background section above). The nature of the change proposed in the Amendment Direction is constrained insofar as it only provides for a change of the date by which the ACMA is required to make the standard; the scope, purpose, application and implementation date of the substantive Direction remain unchanged.
Statement of compatibility with human rights
As section 42 of the Legislation Act 2003 does not apply to this instrument, being exempted under Part 4 of the Legislation (Exemption and Other Matters) Regulation 2015, a statement of compatibility with human rights is not required under section 9 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Details of the Amendment Direction are set out below:
Section 1 Provides that the name of the instrument is the Telecommunications (SMS Sender ID Register Industry Standard) Amendment Direction (No. 1) 2025.
Section 2 Provides that the instrument commences on the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Section 3 Provides that the instrument is made under subsection 125AA(4) of the Telecommunications Act 1997.
Section 4 Provides that each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1 This Schedule outlines the amendments to the Telecommunications (SMS Sender ID Register Industry Standard) Direction 2025 (2025 Direction). Item 1 repeals paragraph 5(2)(a) of the 2025 Direction and substitutes it with an updated provision. The effect of the change is that the standard referred to in subsection 5(1) of the 2025 Direction is to be determined by no later than 30 September 2025.