If you’re reading this, chances are:
- Someone in your business has registered an SMS Sender ID through Enfonica and put your name down as the authorised representative.
- The company that manages your telecommunications has submitted an SMS Sender ID on your behalf.
- Or you’re about to submit a registration, and you’re wondering what the person you nominate actually has to do.
Either way, this post is for you. While registering a Sender ID takes just a few minutes in the Enfonica Console, confirming the registration in ACMA Assist is where registrations can slow down, and it all rests on one person: the authorised contact.
Here’s exactly what that person needs to have ready, what ACMA will send them, and what happens when they click the link.
What the authorised contact actually does
Registering a Sender ID is a two-system process. Enfonica lodges your registration with ACMA, and then ACMA emails your nominated authorised contact asking them to confirm it in ACMA Assist, ACMA’s online portal.
That confirmation is how ACMA verifies the registration is genuine: that a real person, with real authority to act for your business, is standing behind the Sender ID. No confirmation, no registration.
So the authorised contact isn’t just a name on a form. They need to:
- Have a myID (the Australian Government’s Digital ID app) to log in to ACMA Assist.
- Be able to prove they’re authorised to act for your business, which ACMA checks against the authorised contacts listed for your ABN on the Australian Business Register (ABR).
- Confirm the registration when ACMA’s email arrives. The registration isn’t approved until they do.
Let’s take those one at a time.
Step 1: Set up myID (before the email arrives)
ACMA Assist uses myID for login. If your authorised contact doesn’t already have one, they should set it up before the registration is submitted, not after ACMA’s email has landed and everyone’s waiting on the approval.
A Standard identity strength myID is generally enough to log in to ACMA Assist, and setting one up usually requires two Australian identity documents (like a driver’s licence and Medicare card). The full setup instructions are at myid.gov.au.
One thing worth knowing: myID is tied to an individual, not the business. Your authorised contact sets it up on their own phone with their own identity documents. It’s theirs, and they’ll use it for the login step.
Step 2: Make sure the ABR knows who you are
This is the step that catches people out, so it’s worth reading carefully.
When your authorised contact logs in to ACMA Assist, ACMA checks whether they’re allowed to act for your business. It does this by looking at the authorised contacts listed for your ABN on the ABR. Typically, people like a Public Officer, Director, or a nominated contact with an email address is on the record.
A common assumption is that being authorised in Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM) is enough. It isn’t. ACMA doesn’t check RAM for Sender ID Register access; it checks the ABR. Someone can have full RAM authorisations for your business and still hit a wall in ACMA Assist if they’re not connected to an email on your ABR record.
Before submitting, check your ABR record:
- Search your ABN at abr.gov.au and review the authorised contacts and their email addresses.
- If the details are out of date, update them. The fastest route is online using myID, though a registered tax or BAS agent can also do it. ABN details are meant to be kept current within 28 days of any change anyway, so this is good hygiene regardless.
Step 3: The email from ACMA
Once Enfonica lodges your registration, ACMA emails your authorised contact a “request to confirm your application” message with a link to ACMA Assist. Two things matter here:
- They must use that link. It takes them to the correct page for your specific registration.
- The registration sits in limbo until they act. Nothing progresses or is sent until the confirmation is complete.
That’s why steps 1 and 2 need to happen first. Clicking a link and logging in takes minutes… setting up a myID from scratch or chasing down a Director to update the ABR does not. Every day of that is a day your Sender ID isn’t registered.
What happens when they click the link
The authorised contact logs in to ACMA Assist with their myID and verifies your organisation’s ABN and entity name. Then ACMA checks their email address against your ABR record, and one of three scenarios plays out:
Scenario 1: Their myID email is on your ABR record. The easy path. ACMA matches the email automatically, they agree to the register’s terms and conditions, and they can confirm the registration. Done.
Scenario 2: A different email they control is on the ABR record. Say their myID uses a personal email, but their corporate email is the one listed on the ABR. They tell ACMA Assist the ABR-listed address, receive a verification code at that address, enter it, agree to the terms, and continue. Also fine — as long as they can actually access that inbox.
Scenario 3: No email they can access is on the ABR record. This is the slow path. They’ll need to contact someone who is an authorised contact on the ABR, e.g. a Public Officer or Director, and ask them to authorise the account in ACMA Assist and grant access. ACMA Assist provides an email template for exactly this. It works, but it adds another person to the chain, so if this is your situation, sort it out before submitting, not after.
If you’re not sure which scenario applies, that’s a sign to check your ABR record now rather than find out mid-confirmation.
After they confirm
Once the confirmation is done, the registration status in the Enfonica Console moves to Active and you can send with your Sender ID to Australian numbers. The first login also creates your organisation’s account on the register, so future registrations, confirmations, and revocations are quicker: the authorised contact can also invite other users and business administrators in ACMA Assist, so it doesn’t all hinge on one person next time.
Quick checklist
Before you nominate someone as the authorised contact in the Enfonica Console, confirm:
- They can genuinely act on behalf of the business.
- They have a myID set up (Standard strength is enough).
- They can access an email address listed as an authorised contact for your ABN on the ABR, or you’ve updated the ABR so they can.
- They know the ACMA email is coming and what they’re being asked to confirm.
Get those four right and the confirmation step takes minutes. Get them wrong and it’s the number one reason registrations stall.
Need a hand
Our full Sender ID Register guide walks through the whole process end to end, including troubleshooting for ABR mismatches and stalled approvals. And if you’re unsure whether your setup will sail through, especially if your ABR record hasn’t been touched in years, get in touch with Enfonica Support before you lodge. We’d rather help you get it right the first time.
