All political messages - whether sent by SMS or through robo-calls - will have to identify the people behind them, under proposed new laws.
The Turnbull government on Thursday introduced legislation aimed at outlawing campaigns like Labor's so-called "Mediscare" texts during the 2016 election.
Cabinet minister Josh Frydenberg told parliament existing laws don't require modern forms of campaigning to inform voters who is trying to influence them.
"This bill promotes free and informed voting at elections and referendums by allowing electors to know who is communicating with them," he said.
The draft laws will also make it an offence to impersonate a commonwealth entity, company or service, such as Medicare or a government department.
"This will ensure that the public has confidence in the legitimacy of communication from Australian government bodies and will safeguard the proper functioning of government," Mr Frydenberg told MPs.
The legislation follows a review by a parliamentary committee, which was concerned that current laws weren't appropriate in the modern context.
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