How to reduce unwanted marketing texts in Australia

An unwanted text can be an advertisement from a business you know, a message sent in error, or an attempt to steal your information. The safest response depends on which it is. Start by checking who is contacting you before following instructions in the message.

0TXT helps you record a preference to stop SMS marketing from participating businesses. It also gives those businesses short unsubscribe links and a way to check their own lists. The service has a defined scope: it cannot block messages at the mobile network or make every sender participate.

Check an unfamiliar message independently

Be cautious with a text that asks for a payment, threatens an urgent consequence or tells you to sign into an account through a link. Do not use an unexpected message as your only source of contact details. Find the organisation's website yourself or open its usual app, then check whether the request is real.

Scamwatch's advice on text scams explains the warning signs and recommends an independent check. A suspicious message is not a good place to test an unsubscribe button. Reporting or blocking that message is a different task from asking a legitimate business to stop marketing.

Unsubscribe from a business you recognise

If you have independently confirmed the sender, use its stated unsubscribe method. That might be a reply instruction or an unsubscribe page. If the text shows a business name rather than a reply-capable number, a reply may not be available; look for the stated alternative.

Keep a simple record of the request, such as the message and the date you asked to unsubscribe. If marketing continues, use the business's independently located contact details to ask it to check your suppression status. You do not need to provide a detailed explanation of why you no longer want promotions.

For a business using 0TXT, the short link identifies the recipient and named business. The confirmation page records that business-specific request. You do not need to join the voluntary register or receive a verification code to use a direct business unsubscribe link.

Understand what the Do Not Call Register covers

The Australian Government's Do Not Call Register does not prevent SMS marketing. Its consumer FAQ explains that SMS marketing falls under the Spam Act instead. Joining a private SMS preference service is a separate choice.

0TXT is such a voluntary service. Participating businesses agree to honour relevant matches against their own contacts. A business that does not participate may never check the register, so continue using that sender's own unsubscribe route where appropriate.

Register once with 0TXT

At the registration page, enter a mobile number you control and request a verification code. Enter that code to confirm control of the number. Successful verification activates your preference; entering a number alone does not register it.

We will never sell your data. We will never send you spam. We only text you when you request a verification code. After registration, there’s nothing else you need to do. No newsletter signup or email address is required for consumer registration.

After registration, you do not need to return each week, renew a consumer subscription or repeatedly check lists. Your preference remains active until it is removed. Participating businesses perform the list checks. You can return if you want to manage your preference, but that is your choice.

Know what a business sees

A participating business submits contacts it is entitled to process. A wash tells it which of its own rows should be suppressed. It does not receive a downloadable list of everyone who has registered with 0TXT.

The matching process uses a protected representation of the phone number. You can read how we protect your number and the privacy notice before deciding whether to register. Those pages explain verification, the SMS provider and the limits of the protections.

You can change your mind

You can verify your number to leave the voluntary register. Leaving removes the global preference and its verification requests from the active system. It does not cancel an opt-out already recorded by an individual business or give that business new permission to market to you.

Use the service that matches your immediate need: a direct unsubscribe for a known sender, independent checking for a suspicious text, and the voluntary register for a broader preference covering participating businesses. If that broader preference is what you want, register your mobile number.