Australia Post today welcomed historic changes to the regulations governing the organisation, with new Prescribed Performance Standards effective from Monday, 15 April 2024. These changes follow the Federal Government's announcement in December last year regarding the first phase of reform to modernise Australia Post.
Australia Post's Letters business has been in unstoppable decline for more than a decade, a trend which has been playing out globally. However, eCommerce continues to grow year-on-year, with 9.5 million Australian households [1] shopping online in 2023. The changes to the regulations establish a platform for Australia Post to build a more financially sustainable business, while still providing stable employment for thousands of team members and delivering for customers.
Australia Post has conducted a national trial of its New Delivery Model, which will be gradually rolled out until the end of 2025. The New Delivery Model sees Posties deliver priority mail, express letters and parcels every day, while standard letters and unaddressed mail will be delivered every second day. This means Posties can deliver more parcels, more often.
Australia Post Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Paul Graham said: "This is a very significant day in the modernisation of Australia Post and we welcome the new regulations for letter delivery.
"The new regulations will enable Australia Post to focus on what Australians want most; flexible and more reliable parcel deliveries with enhanced tracking technology and more delivery options.
"Households now receive about two letters per week, and we expect this to halve in the next five years. By contrast, Australians spend about $64 billion a year shopping online and want reliable parcel deliveries. Australia Post is the vital eCommerce link between those digital stores and the front door of millions of homes.
"Urgent mail, including Express Post, will still be delivered every business day as it always has, and our commitment to the service and support we provide across Australia continues.
"The regulations governing Australia Post had previously required us to focus on everyday letter delivery, even when there were no letters to deliver. This has been contributing to significant financial losses for Australia Post.
"With the strong support of the Federal Government, this is an important first step for Australia Post to address those financial losses by focusing its services on the growing parcel-delivery business and a better experience for our customers."
Under the regulatory changes, the delivery of non-urgent letters will take place every second business day, rather than every business day. The change will be implemented progressively across Australia through to the end of 2025.
ENDS
[1] Source: Australia Post 2024 Inside Australian Online Shopping Report
Media contacts:
Tracy Hicks, General Manager Communications, Australia Post
M: 0477 027 860
Lara Evans, Head of Media Relations, Australia Post
M: 0419 226 449
About Australia Post: As Australia's postal service for more than 214 years, we're at the heart of every community. Last financial year we delivered more than 2.5 billion items to 12.7 million delivery points. Australia Post has one of the largest retail networks nationally, with more than 4,000 Post Offices. Australia Post employs people of all ages, genders, and abilities in our extended workforce of more than 63,000 team members, reflective of the diverse communities we operate in. We are proud to be included in the inaugural Indigenous Employment Index with 3 percent of our workforce identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and we are one of the largest Australian employers to be certified as a Disability Confident Recruiter.
