Registering a sender ID on behalf of a client (agencies and providers)
If you send SMS for your clients - as a marketing agency, IT provider, or software platform - you can register a custom sender ID on behalf of a client. On the registration form under Settings > Sender IDs, you select the option to register on behalf of another business, enter your client's details as the brand, and your own business details as the applicant.
After you submit, the ACMA approval happens in two steps, in a fixed order. Knowing who completes each step avoids the most common point of confusion.
Step 1: Your business confirms partner access in ACMA Assist
Before ACMA will process the sender ID, your business (the agency or provider that submitted the application) needs to confirm its relationship with Mobile Message in ACMA Assist. ACMA calls this becoming an entity associate of Mobile Message.
You'll receive an email from us with a link to the partner access page in ACMA Assist. To complete it:
- Open the link and sign in using the myID app.
- If ACMA Assist asks how you're connected to the business, choose the option that matches you - whether or not you're listed as a contact on your business's ABN. Read both descriptions and pick the one that fits.
- Tick the checkbox next to MOBILE MESSAGE PTY LTD and confirm the application to register as an entity associate.
Two things about this step that often look wrong but aren't:
- It's about your business, not your client's. The page shows your ABN and Mobile Message's name, and doesn't mention your client or the sender ID at all. You are not claiming ownership of your client's brand - you're confirming that your business is a partner of Mobile Message, which is what allows you to submit registrations for clients.
- You only do this once. After your partner access is confirmed, future sender IDs you register for any client skip straight to step 2.
Step 2: Your client approves the sender ID
Once your partner access is confirmed, ACMA contacts your client (the brand the sender ID belongs to) to approve the sender ID. This step can only be done by your client, signing in to ACMA Assist with their own myID - you can't approve it for them.
Send your client our guide so they know what to expect: How to confirm a sender ID in ACMA Assist.
Once your client approves, the sender ID completes registration and a 24-hour readiness period begins while the mobile networks update their systems.
"ACMA says approved, but the sender ID is still pending"
Your client may receive an email from ACMA saying their business has been approved to participate in the SMS Sender ID Register. This email is easy to misread: it means ACMA has verified the business itself, not that the sender ID is approved. The sender ID stays pending until both steps above are complete.
If your sender ID is showing as pending, the most common reason is that step 1 (partner access) hasn't been completed yet - ACMA won't ask your client to approve the sender ID until it has.
If your client would rather deal with us directly
If you'd prefer your client to handle the registration themselves, that works too: submit the registration without selecting the on-behalf option and without your business's details on the form. The application then runs as a standard registration in your client's name, and ACMA deals with them directly - no partner access step needed.
Registering many clients?
If you manage sender IDs for multiple clients, you can submit registrations programmatically using the ACMA Registration API endpoint, reusing your saved partner details on each application.