Regulations
In Australia, the Spam Act 2003 and the Spam Regulations 2021 regulate the sending of SMS marketing messages, along with other commercial electronic messages (e.g., email and instant messages).
SMS messages to Australian recipients must include:
Legal business name or company name and Australian business number
Unsubscribe link (as opt-out keywords are not currently available)
When sending SMS to recipients in Australia, messages are sent from alphanumeric sender IDs. These numbers are free with any plan.
While Alphanumeric numbers are the standard and best practice in Australia. Alphanumeric numbers cannot:
Send MMS messages
Receive either SMS or MMS messages
Because of this it's not possible to have subscribers opt in or out via a keyword (e.g., JOIN or STOP).
You should not include any prohibited content in your SMS. If you do, carriers will likely filter your message, and it won't be delivered to your intended recipient. They may also filter future messages from your business regardless of content.
Consent
In Australia, it is strongly recommended that you get express consent to send an SMS message. Express consent must be specific to SMS and cannot be inferred from consent or subscription to other marketing messages or channels.
However under Australian law, inferred consent is also allowed. Inferred consent means you can reasonably infer that a subscriber wants to receive SMS marketing from your business. Typical ways of inferring consent would be if a customer has an account with your company, or they've subscribed to other marketing channels. You cannot infer consent simply because a customer placed an order.
Inferred consent is a grey area and our advice does not constitute legal advice. We strongly recommend you use express consent or otherwise consult a legal professional.
SmartrMail enables you to collect consent from:
SmartrMail subscription forms
SmartrMail popups
Your checkout
List Uploads