Major change coming to Australia Post

A historic shake-up of the nation’s postal service will take effect next week when Australia Post begins the rollout of a new delivery model.

Under the changes, set to begin on April 15, posties will slash the frequency of letter deliveries in half, with posties instead focusing their efforts on the more lucrative parcel delivery business.

Priority mail, express letters and parcels will be delivered every day, while standard letters and unaddressed mail will be dropped off every second day.

Major change coming to Australia Post

The overhaul is permitted under new performance standards for the postal service, implemented by the federal government, which has committed to modernise operations after continued losses in the service’s letter division weighed on the public entity’s bottom line.

In the first half of the 2023-24 financial year, Australia Post reported a half-year profit of $33.6m. The result was buoyed by the delivery of a record number of parcels, which climbed to almost 100 million over summer.

However, the service’s letter business continued to haemorrhage profits, reporting a loss of $182m, as the number of letters sent dived 12 per cent in just six months.

Australia Post chief executive Paul Graham welcomed the start of the delivery overhaul, remarking that it was a “significant day in the modernisation of Australia Post”.

“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,” Mr Graham said.

Households now received two letters per week, which was expected to fall to just one in the next five years, the Australia Post boss said, adding that billions spent on online shopping required the service to instead focus on ensuring reliable parcel deliveries.

“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,” Mr Graham said.

The change will be implemented progressively across Australia through to the end of 2025.