How to send bulk SMS in Australia

1. Choose an SMS provider

Compare each provider's published rate at the monthly volume you expect to send, because a rate quoted at one volume may not apply at another. Confirm the figures against your own numbers before you decide.

Identify the sending methods you need, such as a web portal, an API or email to SMS, then check each provider supports them before you select one. Read the account terms before you commit, and if you plan to build on an API, start with our SMS API comparison.

Start your shortlist with the Australian bulk SMS provider comparison, then narrow it to the providers that publish the sending methods and account terms you have read.

2. Get consent for every number

Get consent from every person on your list before you send them a single commercial message. The Spam Act 2003 governs commercial text messages in Australia, and the ACMA enforces it. Every commercial message needs consent from the recipient, express or inferred, and you have to be able to show it.

Remember that the obligations fall on the business sending the message, not on the SMS provider, and that choosing a compliant provider does not move the duty.

Our guide to the Spam Act covers the consent rules in more detail.

3. Decide how your message will show who sent it

Decide between a sender ID and a number before you write a word of the message. A sender ID is your business name shown at the top of a text instead of a number, and it runs 2 to 11 characters. A sender ID cannot receive replies, so send from a number when you want recipients to reply.

Shared and dedicated sender numbers differ in fees and eligibility, and the terms vary by provider. Recurring charges may apply to a dedicated number, so check the relevant terms. Mobile Message's sender options help page says a shared number suits initial testing rather than production messaging, and a dedicated number is available free after purchase of SMS credits.

Register your sender ID on the ACMA SMS Sender ID Register through each SMS provider you send with, a requirement since 1 July 2026. Registration is open. An unregistered sender ID is replaced with the word "Unverified", and the message is still delivered.

4. Write the message

Identify your business in the message and give accurate contact details, because every commercial message must clearly identify who sent it. Add a functional unsubscribe that matches the way you are sending. The line "Reply STOP to opt out" works only when you send from a reply-capable number and your provider or sender has working STOP handling configured. A branded sender ID cannot receive that reply, so give an unsubscribe link instead. Check the method you choose actually works before you send, because providers differ in how they handle opt-outs. Do not send passwords, full card numbers or health details in a text, because a standard SMS is not end-to-end encrypted.

Count your characters before you send anything. A single SMS holds 160 characters when every character is in the standard GSM-7 character set of plain letters, numbers and common punctuation. The whole message switches to UCS-2 encoding when it contains any character outside that set, such as an emoji, many accented letters or curly quotation marks. A single SMS holds 70 characters in UCS-2.

Expect a longer message to travel as linked parts. Each part holds 153 characters in GSM-7, or 67 in UCS-2, because some space in each part carries the information that joins them back together on the phone. Providers count each part of a long message as one message when they charge. Some GSM-7 characters count as two: the euro sign, square brackets, curly braces, the backslash, the tilde, the caret and the vertical bar.

Paste your message into the counter at the top of this page, along with the size of your list. It returns the number of parts, the total messages your send will bill as, and the price at the cheapest and the median published Australian rate for that volume. A one-off send may be charged at a different volume tier, depending on the provider's terms.

5. Upload your list

Upload the file through your provider's import screen, then check the results before sending. These steps cover preparation, mapping, duplicates and opt-outs.

1. Prepare one recipient per row, keep proof of consent separately because an imported row is not consent, and carry previous opt-outs forward so they remain excluded from the campaign.
2. Start from the provider's template: Mobile Message offers a header-row option, maps your columns and requires a mobile number (Mobile Message import guide). Notifyre accepts CSV only and requires country codes, such as the Australian format 61499993421 (Notifyre import guide). Keep Notifyre's original template headings in the documented order, even where values are blank.
3. Map names and custom fields to the personalisation fields you plan to use. Preview rows with missing or long values, then use neutral wording or the provider's documented fallback where data is blank.
4. Review duplicate handling before you import: Mobile Message offers Skip or Overwrite when a phone number already exists, where Skip keeps the stored details and Overwrite updates them. Check your duplicate-recipient settings separately before the campaign goes out.
5. Separate updates from replacements. touchSMS offers "Update Details for Existing Contacts" for changed information and "Delete Removed Contacts" to replace a group with only the contacts in the file (touchSMS contact import guide). Take an export before a deliberate replacement.
6. Reconcile imported, failed and skipped counts with your intended recipients and investigate gaps. A list count can include numbers later excluded because they are unsubscribed or lack a valid mobile number. Migrate previous suppression records through the provider's documented opt-out process. Where several suppression lists exist, select the one matching the message type, because at touchSMS an imported opt-out number is excluded only from messages tied to that list (touchSMS opt-out management guide). Never re-import a number or change subscription status to bypass an opt-out, because new consent must precede any legitimate resubscribe.

For provider-specific import instructions, see our CSV and Excel upload comparison, and check message length with our SMS character counter before you test or send.

6. Send a test, then send or schedule

Send the message to your own phone first, before anything goes to the list. The test shows how the message looks on a real phone and how many parts it uses, which is the number of messages you will pay for. Trim the wording and test again when the message runs longer than you want.

Exercise the unsubscribe from your test phone before the full send. Send the STOP reply when that is your chosen working numeric method, or follow the unsubscribe link for the method you selected. Then check that the test contact is recorded as opted out or excluded from later marketing, because the behaviour varies by provider and integration.

Send the campaign to the full list once the test message satisfies you. The web app sends it now or schedules it for later.

7. Check delivery and handle opt-outs

Check the delivery reports once the campaign has gone out to your list. The provider reports whether each message was delivered, using the delivery receipt the mobile network returns, and campaign reports are built from those receipts. An SMS delivery report does not establish whether the person opened or read the message.

Act on every opt-out that comes back. Honour each unsubscribe within 5 working days, and keep the unsubscribe live for at least 30 days after the message is sent. The law sets both timeframes.