Legal & policies
SMS Consent & Opt-Out
Effective date: 9 June 2026
This statement explains SMS messages sent through Tradie Texts and the controls used to support compliance with the *Spam Act 2003* (Cth), Australian privacy law, carrier rules and customer expectations.
1. What SMS messages are sent
When a person calls a trade business using Tradie Texts and the call is missed, the Service can send an automated SMS on that business's behalf. The message follows up on the missed call and asks for information needed to respond to the caller's enquiry, such as the job type, suburb, urgency and best callback time.
The Service is designed for service and transactional follow-up to an inbound enquiry. It must not be used for cold outreach, bulk marketing, promotional campaigns, list uploads or unrelated offers unless the Customer has obtained all required consents and we have enabled that use case in writing.
2. Consent basis for missed-call recovery
The recommended launch position is that missed-call recovery SMS should be limited to people who have just contacted the trade business by calling the connected number. The caller's inbound call provides a strong relationship and expectation basis for a prompt service reply about that same enquiry.
This is different from marketing. Marketing SMS should require express consent, clear sender identification, and unsubscribe wording before any campaign is sent.
Because the Spam Act consent analysis can turn on message purpose, wording and context, the final consent basis should be confirmed by an Australian solicitor before live launch.
3. Sender identification
Each SMS must identify the trade business on whose behalf it is sent. Where an alphanumeric or branded sender ID is used for Australian recipients, the sender ID may need to be registered under the Australian SMS Sender ID Register before 1 July 2026 to avoid disruption or "Unverified" labelling.
4. AI disclosure
The first automated recovery SMS tells the recipient that they are texting an AI assistant and how to opt out. The current wording is:
"Hi, this is [Business]. Sorry we missed your call. You're texting our AI assistant. What can we
help with today? Reply STOP to opt out."
If the business supplies a custom greeting, the Service still ensures an AI or automated assistant disclosure and a STOP opt-out instruction appear in that first message.
5. Opt-out handling
Recipients can opt out by replying:
- STOP
- STOPALL
- UNSUBSCRIBE
- CANCEL
- END
- QUIT
Recipients can opt back in by replying:
- START
- UNSTOP
- SUBSCRIBE
Plain "YES" should not be treated as an opt-in keyword because it can be an ordinary reply in a conversation.
Opt-out requests should be honoured promptly and automatically. Once a recipient opts out, the Service should not send further automated SMS in that conversation except a one-time confirmation that the opt-out was processed.
6. Owner's intended sending model
The intended launch model is not a marketing list or ongoing nurture sequence:
- One automated SMS may be sent in response to a missed inbound call;
- No further automated SMS should be sent unless the recipient replies or otherwise continues the
conversation;
- Each later missed inbound call may be treated as a new service enquiry, except for numbers
that have opted out (see below); and
- Marketing campaigns, bulk SMS and unrelated offers are out of scope unless express consent is
collected separately.
This model is materially lower risk than promotional SMS. It should still be reviewed by an Australian solicitor because the Spam Act analysis depends on the message's purpose, wording and context.
STOP suppresses everything. When a recipient sends STOP, the Service stops automated replies in the current conversation, records the opt-out, and also suppresses any later one-off missed-call recovery SMS after a fresh inbound call from that number. A number only receives automated SMS again after it sends START (or an equivalent opt-in keyword).
This is enforced in code: the inbound SMS handler honours STOP/START, and the missed-call recovery flow (status-callback) checks the opt-out state and sends nothing to an opted-out number before creating a lead, conversation, or message. Opting back in via START clears the suppression.
7. Records
The Service should keep audit records of opt-out and opt-in events, including phone number, business, timestamp, keyword and source where practicable. These records are used to honour recipient choices, investigate complaints and demonstrate compliance.
8. Customer obligations
Customers must not:
- Upload contact lists or use the Service for marketing without express consent;
- Alter greetings or prompts to hide the AI nature of the interaction;
- Remove required sender identification or opt-out wording where required;
- Use public URL shorteners or deceptive links in SMS; or
- Attempt to message a recipient who has opted out except as permitted by the final policy and
applicable law.
9. Contact
Messaging enquiries: hello@tradietexts.com.au. Recipients should also contact the trade business that messaged them, because the message is sent on that business's behalf.