Email, SMS and direct marketing compliance

Every commercial message needs consent, sender identification and a working unsubscribe.

• Identify whether the message is commercial and which Australian recipients and channels are involved.
• Use express consent or a properly supported basis for inferred consent; do not assume that a purchased list, customer relationship or published address is enough.
• Clearly identify the sender and provide accurate contact information.
• Include a functional, easy-to-use unsubscribe facility and action requests within five working days.
• Do not send a further commercial message merely to ask a person to consent.

Prepare for the branded SMS Sender ID Register.

The Australian branded SMS Sender ID Register commenced on 1 July 2026. SMS using unregistered sender IDs are now labelled 'Unverified'. Businesses using alphanumeric sender names should contact their messaging provider to register rather than assuming an existing display name will continue unchanged.

Direct marketing also requires privacy controls.

Where personal information is used for marketing, consider the Privacy Act, the source of the information, reasonable expectations, notice, access to source information and the person's right to stop direct marketing. Sensitive information and third-party data need particular care.

Use an end-to-end campaign checklist.

• Record the list source, collection notice, consent wording, date and channel.
• Test sender identity, reply handling, unsubscribe links and SMS keywords before launch.
• Synchronise suppression across CRM, ecommerce, marketing platforms, agencies and uploaded audiences.
• Prevent re-import or profile merging from restoring an unsubscribed recipient.
• Keep campaign, consent and unsubscribe evidence for investigations and complaints.
• Treat marketing consent as optional and separate from consent needed to manage an enquiry or service.

Questions to ask

Focus on the decision and the evidence.

1. 01

   What is the message, channel, purpose and recipient basis?

2. 02

   Can the business evidence permission and sender identity?

3. 03

   Are unsubscribe and suppression controls working end to end?

Primary sources

Check the controlling material.

• Official spam compliance guidance ↗
• Official SMS Sender ID Register update ↗
• Official direct-marketing privacy guidance ↗
• Federal Register of Legislation - Spam Act 2003 ↗

Related resources

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Practical support

Apply the guidance to your facts.

Identify the exact product, claim, customer journey, supplier, legal entity or process involved. Preserve the information that supports the current position, record unresolved facts, assign an owner and confirm the point at which specialist review is required.

Important information

Check the current position.

This resource is general information, not legal advice. Laws, official guidance and proposals can change. Do not rely on a title or summary alone to decide whether a requirement applies to a particular entity, product or activity.