Australia Post PO Box service: prices, reviews and comments
PO Box and postage stamp prices
| Year | PO Box price (small size, standard location) |
Stamp price (regular letter) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $164 | $1.50 |
| 2024 | $159 | $1.50 |
| 2023 | $153 | $1.20 |
| 2022 | $144 | $1.10 |
| 2021 | $141 | $1.10 |
| 2020 | $139 | $1.10 |
| 2019 | $135 | $1 |
| 2018 | $132 | $1 |
| 2017 | $129 | $1 |
| 2016 | $126 | $1* |
| 2015 | $120 | 70¢ |
| 2014 | $112 | 70¢ |
| 2013 | $104 | 60¢ |
| 2012 | $98 | 60¢ |
| 2011 | $91 | 60¢ |
| 2010 | $84.50 | 60¢ |
| 2009 | $80 | 55¢ |
| 2008 | $75 | 55¢ |
| 2007 | $70 | 50¢ |
| 2006 | $60 | 50¢ |
| 2005 | $56 | 50¢ |
| 2004 | $55 | 50¢ |
| 2003 | $52 | 50¢ |
| 2002 | $52 | 45¢ |
| 2001 | $49.50 | 45¢ |
| 2000 | $48.35 | 45¢ |
| 1999 | $45 | 45¢ |
| 1998 | $44 | 45¢ |
* From 2016 onward mail delivery takes about 2 days longer than before, unless additional priority label is purchased.
Advantages of having a PO Box
PO Boxes offer a way to receive letters and parcels without disclosing one's physical address to the senders. This can be particularly helpful for privacy. It also provides the convenience of not needing to change one's postal address when moving house. Additionally, mail delivered to a PO Box may be safer while awaiting collection at the post office than when left in a street mailbox or on the house porch. Many post offices offer 24-hour access, and if a parcel is too large to fit in the PO Box, the post office may leave you a key for parcel collection from the “red door” box (if available at your post office). The red door box is a simple mechanical locker that doesn't require any additional accounts or apps for access. It is easy to use, and doesn't rely on an online system or electricity to operate. If a parcel fits and doesn't require a signature, it is placed in one of the red boxes. A physical key is then placed in the PO Box, and the customer simply needs to return the key through the slot in the wall after collecting their parcel. Note: do not confuse these mechanical key-locked “red door” boxes with “24/7 parcel lockers”, which do require a MyPost account.
Disadvantages of having a PO Box
Your personal data will be harvested by Australia Post
Australia Post has made it mandatory to provide full name, home address, phone number, and identity documents in order to open a PO Box. The reasoning behind this is unclear. Perhaps PO Boxes are considered a security threat in Australia, or perhaps it is simply an opportunity to collect personal data that no Australian corporation would want to miss.
Around 2015, Australia Post began demanding date of birth as mandatory information for new PO Box applications (it was previously optional). Why? They provide no reasonable explanation, other than the usual: We will be unable to process your application if you do not provide the information requested.
They had somehow been able to process the same applications for the same boxes for decades without this data, but suddenly they claim they can't without it.
Australia Post also appears to be harvesting email addresses from parcels where the sender included an email address in the addressee details. The email is then used to send surveys. The surveys do have an opt-out link, but it is unclear whether Australia Post will delete the data after the opt out, or continue storing it for an unspecified period and unknown future purpose.
PO Box renewals cannot be paid using BPAY or direct bank transfers
The most private and secure way to pay PO Box renewal fees is in person at the post office. However, if you wish to renew your PO Box online, you will not be able to use the most common, private, and convenient options, such as BPAY or direct bank transfers. Australia Post refuses to offer these options. Instead, they suggest PayPal, Australia Post App, or Post Billpay, all of which require additional personal information. Compared to PayPal, Post Billpay appears to be less invasive, but it still demands an email address, allegedly for a receipt. However, if Australia Post truly needed the email address only for providing a receipt, they could easily offer an option to show it on a webpage or a temporary PDF file immediately after the transaction, giving the customer the choice to obtain the receipt without supplying unnecessary and excessive personal information. Additionally, despite claiming that Post Billpay is safe & easy
with high levels of security help protect confidential details and information
in its Terms & Conditions, Australia Post also states: You acknowledge that all electronic and telephonic data transfers are potentially susceptible to interception by others. We cannot, and do not, warrant that data transfers utilising the Service, or electronic mail transmitted to and from You, will be secure.
Yearly price hikes
Each year, Australia Post increases the prices of PO Boxes, often significantly above the inflation rate. For example, in 2014, the cost of a small PO Box became $112. In 2009, the price of the same box was $80, meaning Australia Post raised the cost by 40% in five years. The average annual inflation rate in Australia during the same period was about 2.75%, resulting in a total inflation rate of 13.75% over five years. From 2004 to 2014, the price of a small PO Box increased from $55 to $112, a 104% rise. Over the same ten years, inflation in Australia was around 27%, meaning Australia Post increased its PO Box prices by 77% above the inflation rate.
Normally, higher prices are justified by increased operating costs, new technologies, or maintenance needs. However, Australian PO Boxes have remained unchanged for decades: they are still the same black boxes with small doors and awkwardly large keys. The only new technology has been the introduction of MyPost accounts, which not all PO Box holders wish to use, because, like any other accounts, they involve mandatory personal data collection and increase the risk of data breaches and identity theft. Nevertheless, Australia Post attributes the price hike to rising costs for raw materials, delivery, transport, and energy. However, PO Box holders actually save Australia Post money by reducing street mail deliveries, the transportation of undeliverable parcels back to post offices for later collection, the cost of subcontractors for door-to-door parcel deliveries, fuel costs, and complaints about misdelivered or damaged letters and parcels. PO Boxes also help maintain a reliable service, as any letter placed in the wrong PO Box can be returned immediately by simply pushing it back out to attract the attention of the sorting person. In contrast, with the street delivery, those letters are often left on the top of the street mail box to be destroyed by rain or blown away by wind, because not every person has enough time or civic consciousness to take the misdelivered letter to the right address or to a post box for a safe return.
By deterring PO Box customers, Australia Post is effectively increasing its own costs rather than generating higher revenue. Price increases may be necessary, but if they far outstrip the annual inflation without any valid reason or explanation, consumers will vote with their feet. No wonder that every March, when PO box rents are due, the red-coloured “Rent Me” signs are plastered all over the vacant boxes. Australia Post seems to be pricing itself out of the market.
Where do the profits go?
According to some sources in 2014, Licensed Post Offices (LPOs) — the local post offices and employees with whom we interact — do not receive all the profits. Worse still, payments to Licensees have failed to keep pace with the increasing cost of providing services. This suggests that not only are prices higher than they should be, but the extra profits are not going to the people who do the hard work. Post offices are paid flat-rate fees for delivering parcels and are, in effect, discouraged by Australia Post management from servicing PO Boxes.
The delivery process includes scanning each parcel in, placing a card in the PO Box if the parcel doesn't fit, storing the parcel, serving the customer when they come to collect it, scanning it out, and, if required, obtaining a signature. Sorting must be completed by 9 AM every day, and, given the increasing volume of parcels due to online shopping, this may require additional employees. Yet, the payment is the same flat rate regardless of the number of parcels or the revenue Australia Post collects from parcel postage or PO Box rentals, both of which are consistently increased without any proportional benefit to Licensees. The so-called fee for delivering to a business point doesn't account for the number of parcels; Licensees receive the same payment whether they deliver one parcel to 100 PO Boxes or five parcels to each of those boxes.
As a result, the number of PO Boxes rented at LPOs has steadily declined. Licensees are losing customers and income, while Australia Post continues to increase the fees. Additionally, the costs and workload associated with delivering mail to street addresses are greater than if the customer had retained a PO Box.
One might wonder whether this short-sighted mismanagement within Australia Post is deliberate, with the aim of increasing short-term profits to make the whole system easier to sell in the future. The very system that belongs to all Australians, is vital to the country's existence, and should be a well-functioning entity providing impeccable service. After all, while many forms of communication have moved online, the post still delivers important documents like passports, and any failure in this regard could have disastrous consequences.
Speaking of increases, according to Crikey, in 2013, Australia Post workers received a pay rise of 1.5%, while its CEO, Ahmed Fahour, already one of Australia's highest-paid executives, received a 66% pay increase, bringing his salary to an unprecedented $4.8 million a year!
Peddling of MyPost accounts and the AusPost App
If you want to increase the security of your personal information and do not wish to use services that require a MyPost account or the AusPost app, the most effective choice may be to avoid signing up for a MyPost account, downloading their app, or giving Australia Post your email address.
One example of mindless digitalisation: in 2015, to mitigate the impact of the postage stamp price rise from 70c to $1, which could heavily affect older people who are unable to use online communications like email, and still rely on paper letters, Australia Post offered to freeze the cost of stamps for this group. However, to receive the concession stamps, individuals must sign up for an online(!) MyPost Concession Account, which requires an email address.
Signing up for a MyPost account? Think twice
Australia Post seems to be pushing MyPost accounts at every opportunity, promising countless benefits. However, a closer look at the MyPost terms and conditions and the Australia Post Privacy Policy (which unfortunately very few read before signing up) reveals what MyPost truly entails. Here are just a few lines that would make any privacy- or safety-conscious person think twice:
You grant to us an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to use, reproduce, modify, adapt and communicate the Data (and all data and information comprised in the Data), and to sublicense third parties to do those things, to enable us to: (a) operate the Website and provide the Services; and (b) perform statistical and other analyses that are relevant to our business purposes.
You acknowledge and agree that ... we make no representations, warranties or guarantees in relation to the integrity of the Data or length of time the Data will be retained by us.
We may transfer personal information to countries outside Australia. Australia Post uses service providers in other countries as follows: Japan, Singapore, United Kingdom, United States of America, France, New Zealand, India and the Philippines.
We shall not be liable to you or to any other person (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) for any loss or damage suffered, or that may be suffered, as a result of any act or omission, whether negligent or otherwise, by or on behalf of Australia Post in relation to your MyPost Account
MyPost Terms and Conditions and AusPost Privacy Policy
The aforementioned Data includes personal information such as your name, address, email, phone number, and government-issued identity documents used for verification. Australia Post is essentially stating that you must agree to let them use your personal information as they see fit, share it with whomever they choose, both in Australia and overseas, retain it for as long as they like (even after you close all accounts), and they will not be liable for any consequences or misuse of your personal information. As feedback from users indicates, using MyPost and Parcel Lockers not only means handing over personal data but also increases the risk of being surveilled for no legitimate reason.
Your letters and parcels can still be lost by Australia Post
According to notes and warnings on the Australia Post website, the coronavirus pandemic impacted their network and caused delivery delays. Understandably, more people were shopping online during the lockdown, when physical stores were closed, leading to an increase in parcel volumes. Many parcels took much longer to arrive, and some were even lost...
Unfortunately, as of 2019, to lodge a late or missing item enquiry, Australia Post requires the customer to create a MyPost account. This is part of a common trap nowadays: on the first page, it asks the person to fill out a lengthy form without mentioning that a MyPost account is needed. On the next page, it then says to submit your request, please login or sign up for MyPost account
. It is presumed that after the person has spent time and effort filling out the first page, they will be less likely to abandon the process and refuse to sign up. It's an annoying trick aimed at harvesting personal data and increasing subscriber numbers. Also, judging by user feedback, trying to contact Australia Post about a lost parcel is often a futile exercise. If the item is still on its way, it will eventually reach the recipient, and no form-filling will speed up the process. If the item is truly lost, you will have simply provided them with your personal data for no benefit.
Like you, I am a PO Box renter, and similarly appalled by the unreasonable cost and significant annual price increases. As you point out, the technology has remained unchanged for many decades, so there is clearly no "R&D" to be amortised. Box layouts challenge both those of short stature, and most particularly those unfortunate enough to have one on the bottom rows, who are forced to kneel. As there are "establishment" fees (and additional fees for keys), it is reasonable to presume that the bulk of the "leasing" fees are related to the costs of mail distribution.
I have surveyed my Local PO, which has approximately 700 boxes (a mix of Small, Medium & A4), with all but 2 in use.
In 2014, even with pay-on-time rates the revenue aggregates to just shy of $86 000. I am advised that the time spent distributing the mail items in to these boxes is between 2–2½ person hours per day. At $20 per hour (plus 30% on costs) and for 250 working days per year, the actual cost of servicing the boxes is around $14 650. (This is a generous estimate of labour costs, and which are probably significantly less, especially in high volume facilities where staff performing this function will likely be on lower rates, and with lower on costs.)
This represents at least a 600% differential between cost and revenue!
It is well documented that the volume of physical mail continues to decline significantly, so the labour costs to service PO Boxes (even after annual CPI rises) are almost certainly actually reducing. And, as the use of PO Boxes reduces Australia Post's costs for street delivery, there ought to be a rebate factored in to PO Box rental to reflect this.
As a general principle, the cost to the client for a service should not appreciably exceed the actual cost of its provision. In the absence of a plausible explanation of the cost of provision of this service, the sustained annual price increases and their magnitude, this simply amounts to gouging.
Anonymous, 14 March 2014
We miss the postal service that was once fast and trustworthy. Perhaps it was luck, but until 2010 our household haven't had a single letter or parcel misdelivered, lost, or unexplainably delayed.
Since 2010, numerous parcels and letters have been lost, including a registered express letter with important documents. Sometimes the postal tracking displays totally incorrect information rendering the tracking number useless. Several letters definitely correctly addressed to our PO Box have been returned by AusPost to sender without anyone in the post office knowing why and by whom. Wasn't one of the points of having a PO Box to get a more reliable mail delivery, not less?
Four or five parcels took several months to arrive from overseas, reaching Australia a few days after they were sent and then either vanishing from the tracking record or displaying "in transit" for months. We also had an issue with the postie (or posties, as they change very frequently) dropping letters on the ground in front of our letterbox, or leaving the mail sticking to the street out of our very spacious letterbox. We also frequently have other people's mail put into our box, which we either deliver to the correct address by hand, if it is not too far, or send back. We hope that other people are kind enough to the same with our mail should it be misdelivered to their addresses.
Why is this suddenly happening? If the volume of mail decreased drastically, shouldn't the chance of an error decrease too? Sadly, almost everybody now has at least one story along these lines.
Anonymous, 27 February 2016
I have a MyPost account, which I had to create to be able to collect my parcels from parcel lockers. I study and work long hours, so it is virtually impossible for me to be at home for a delivery by a postman. So it looked like receiving parcels to lockers close to my work or university was a good option. Until I suddenly received this nasty email from AusPost:
"Australia Post values the security of our customers and delivery services. We monitor the usage of these services carefully. As part of this security monitoring, we wish to advise you that the MyPost account created using this email address matches patterns that have been identified as being potentially at risk of misuse. As part of our responsibility to help protect our communities, Australia Post may work with Australian law enforcement authorities to monitor deliveries to the addresses linked to this account."
Shocked and confused, I tried to contact Australia Post for an explanation. Their reply was of course just some boilerplate text. So I did my own research and found that some of those 'patterns' include: having one address as a registered street address in MyPost account and several others as collect addresses; changing email address associated with MyPost account; using an email address on a privacy-respecting service like ProtonMail. The situation is absolutely ridiculous! I don't want AusPost keeping a surveillance file on me! So now I'm closing the account and hope to wipe out as much of my data from their system as possible.
Anonymous, 2 August 2018
I rent a P.O. Box in my name. My daughter uses it as well, getting parcels and letters sent in her married name. She has just been told this is not allowed. Why?
Anonymous, Australia, 18 January 2021
Why? Good question! Surely Australia Post can deliver items to different people at the same address. They do that just fine when it is a house or other premises. Most likely they said that to your daughter for one or both of the following reasons. 1 Australia Post wants to make more money by compelling your daughter to open another P.O. box in her own name. 2 Australia Post wants to put your daughter down as an additional authorised user of your P.O. box and thus obtain more of her personal data.
We live in a world of mass surveillance, data retention and customer profiling. Every government organisation wants to get maximum personal data on each citizen to keep tabs on everyone. Each commercial organisation wants to get maximum personal data for upping the effect of their marketing tricks. Given the position of Australia Post as a semi-government and semi-privatised beast, it is probably doing both.
Anonymous, 22 January 2021
Australia Post is becoming next to useless, or even dangerously untrustworthy service to use.
During the past 12 months I sent 7 letters and parcels from different post offices, all addressed within Australia, all with tracking numbers. Two of the seven gone missing!
AusPost tracking page just says "We've got it! Received by Australia Post" or "Item processed at facility (Someplace NSW)" and then things get stuck at that. The parcel or letter just vanishes into thin air. Trying to contact AusPost and start an investigation is a waste of time and a goodbye to the privacy of your personal data. All they do is tell you to sign up for myPost account, then they collect all your personal data, tell you "sorry we could not locate your item", and start sending you their corporate spam. You can't even close that unwanted myPost account without calling them and wasting more time on the phone with them.
The missing letter contained documents. The missing parcel contained an irreplaceable sentimental present for a family member, which could not be given in person due to state borders closed by the covid pandemic.
Is there a way anymore in this country to send anything important without it getting lost, or without spending weeks staring at the tracking page and stressing out worrying if it ever reaches its destination?
Anonymous, 16 March 2021
Reply to Anonymous, Australia, 18 January 2021: This is wrong. As long as the mail is addressed correctly to the PO Box address and it is cleared out often enough to prevent "overflow", it can be used by anyone you allow. You can get an extra key for them from the post office. Contact Australia Post if this continues, it is against the policy.
Anonymous, 16 April 2021
I know why Personal PO Boxes are in decline across NSW. It is because of the current rental problem. See one needs to be employed today to be able to get a new rental lease. For those that have lost their jobs during covid and are living off their savings (not government payments) until the economy gets back up and running, they are unable to gain new rental accommodation. Without having a rental lease, and bills that go along with a property, one does not have the documentation to get a Personal PO Box. Many of these people have had to share rent and thus their name is not formally on any utility bills. The share rental situation in Sydney is really bad. Even worse, is the room share market that is skewed to exploiting international visitors. They are paying $200 for a bed in a shared room, a local pays $200+ for their own room with a shared bathroom. I've spent the past 20 years renting and paying my rent upfront in advance, I've recently become unemployed due to covid. I have the funds to pay out a new lease but because I'm technically currently not employed I cannot get approval for a new rental lease. My financial advisor said get a PO BOX if you have to move around a bit until re-employment and new lease, he didn't realise that a person can't qualify for one if they don't have bills. Our system of everything is just becoming to damn hard to navigate and function within.
Bee, 9 December 2021
Unfortunately, most systems, including the postal system, have become obsessed with personal data and identity checks under various pretexts (national security/anti-terrorism/money laundering/child abuse/covid/etc). Even though PO Box fees are paid in advance, and there is no chance of customers absconding without paying, Australia Post still wants to collect full personal details and verify the person's identity for a mere PO Box as if it were a bank account.
On the current "Applying for a PO Box (personal use)" form, Australia Post says: "Complete the application form and take it to a participating Post Office along with your Driver's Licence to confirm your name, your address and signature. If you don't have a Driver's Licence you will need to provide two forms of identification – one from each of the categories below.
To confirm your name and signature:
- Passport
- Credit Card
- EFTPOS Card
- Government Concession Card
To confirm your residential address:
- Utilities account (gas, electricity, telephone or water bill)
- Rate notice
- Bank statement"
For a person who has neither a driver's licence, nor a passport, nor utility bills, getting a PO Box would only be possible if that person has a bank account and can produce a bank card and a bank statement.
Great job on the research into this topic. I have always known Aus Post sucked but never really knew how hard. 3 votes on for this article.
Disgruntled Customer, 13 March 2022
Byuer beware! Auspost requires at least one phone number in their po box application. So if you don't have a number or are not prepared to give your personal details to a telco where hackers nick it later, you can't have a po box either.
Anonymous, 27 September 2022
Good point. It is indeed a mystery why and what for Australia Post needs each PO Box customer's phone number on such a compulsory basis. They already have the person's home address and, naturally, the PO Box address. They are the post. Why can't they contact their customers by post? Or are they so distrustful of their own services?
Besides, aren't the main reasons for renting a PO Box to have privacy and to communicate by post instead of email/phone?
Just got my letter for renewal. For a small box with Plus attached it's $174 now in Adelaide. $153 for the box now. The plus option is really handy and a great service now couriers actually go inside, but it does seem to be increasing more than inflation these past few years.
Anonymous, 7 February 2023
Just got my letter for renewal. For a small box it's $153 now in Brisbane. Not going to renew because it's $153 that I could pocket myself per year.
Brock A, 11 February 2023
It puzzles me every year: why the PO Box renewal never has a BPAY option? Why can't I pay for it quickly and securely through my banking? For paying online, it offers only PayPal, Post Billpay and Auspost App.
PayPal is not even an option for me because it means giving inordinate quantities of my personal data to an American company that I have zero trust in. I closed my PayPal account ages ago after they swindled me and then tried to extract multiple photo ID and more personal info from me under vague promises to look into the problem. Exactly what scammers would do. So I won't go anywhere near PayPal ever again. And I have no wish to open yet another unnecessary account with Australia Post or its app.
All my other bills have a BPAY option, but not the PO Box bill. Why??
Anonymous, 19 February 2023
Presumably, because AusPost wants people to use their Post Billpay system or their app rather than BPAY.
Post Billpay could be an acceptable option if it didn't require the payee's email address, and didn't state in its Terms & Conditions , where they basically absolve themselves of the responsibility for the safety and security of their system.
However, there is still a wonderfully cute and old-fashioned option for pay by mail/cheque. And an option to pay in-store.
Paying in person, at the post office, may be the best way. Perhaps not always the most convenient, but definitely the most secure and the least intrusive.
I live in remote NSW and the residents of my town have no choice but to have a PO Box as there is no home mail delivery. It is annoying to have to find the money required every year when one is on a pension.
Mischie, 11 April 2023
It seems, Australia Post offers reduced rate for PO Boxes in the areas with no home delivery. But, of course, it is still money. And, according to AusPost conditions, it
It seems that reliable postal service is now a thing of the past for Australians. It used to be a send-and-done feeling. Now it is send-and-begin-to-worry feeling every time. We have already given up on sending anything of any importance via ordinary mail and always use registered post for that. But even the registered service has now been wrecked. For us it's the third time already when a registered post letter ends up at 'in transit' stage in AusPost tracking and never progresses beyond that. Then after a few months the tracking number just vanishes. This whole system is utterly unreliable and useless. We have no way of knowing whether such registered letter has ever been delivered. And the so-called "late or missing item enquiry" process that Australia Post offers is even worse than useless. It makes you give them your personal and contact details, and then tells the same thing: the letter could not be found. This time we can't even be bothered filing those forms. If we can't trust Australia Post with registered letters, we shouldn't trust them with our personal information.
Anonymous, 20 September 2023
I am so glad that I have always lived by the same rule as you mention in several places on this site: the best way to protect yourself from scams is to never share your personal information with anyone who doesn't truly need it.
On several occasions Australia Post asked me for my phone number and/or email address. I have always said NO! And now I am very glad that I have always refused.
After everyone's contact details were stolen by hackers from Optus and Medibank and other places, we all get daily scam messages and calls. I get AusPost scam text messages every day. They all say that my address is incorrect or invalid, and all contain a bogus link that I should click to "update" my details (which really means to enter my personal details and send them to scammers).
Now, because I have never-ever given AusPost my phone number, I know with 100% certainty that all those messages are definitely scam. I report them to Scam Watch and then delete them without ever clicking any of those malicious links.
Anonymous, 28 April 2024
You have a very sensible and effective approach to your data safety. However, unfortunately, not giving your email address or phone number to AusPost yourself is no longer sufficient. For absolute safety you must ensure that anyone who sends you anything by post also does not give your contact details to AusPost.
This type of scam was essentially enabled by the AusPost. They began asking senders to provide email addresses and mobile phone numbers of addressees, allegedly for sending parcel delivery notifications. And of course the scammers immediately saw the opportunity to piggyback on this.
So now the AusPost is trying to solve this problem by telling everyone to download their app, create an account in the app, and receive "secure" notifications through the app. This of course will give AusPost more personal data that they can monetise, and will create a large database that the hackers may eventually break into, as it happened at Optus. Which means there will be a new problem facilitated by the zealous digitisation of AusPost, and the next solution will require even more personal data and even further invasion into people's privacy. And so on.
If you ever buy anything online and have it delivered by Australia Post, be careful: DO NOT give the seller your email address and mobile phone number if you don't want these details to end up in the hands of Australia Post! There is nothing on AusPost website explaining where they keep this data, for how long, and what else they may used it for.
If giving zero telecommunication details is impossible, give only a 'spammy' email address. Safeguard your mobile number, because in Australia it became a de-facto identity tracking tag.
What will happen is that the sender will give all your personal information, including your email address and mobile number, to AusPost when they dispatch your parcel.
AusPost convinced many sellers that "this will result in a better customer experience", because the customers will be able to receive parcel delivery notifications. However in reality it has little to do with notifications. If the buyer wants to know when the parcel will be delivered, there is the AusPost Tracking page, which has been functioning with a 100% privacy and anonymity for many years, without any need to register anywhere, or create any myPost accounts, or give your personal details to anyone. But that of course is no good for AusPost's desire to snatch everyone's personal data. So they enlisted online retailers and small businesses to obtain everyone's email address and phone number for them. In addition, the retailers are advised to peddle AusPost app to their customers, which would not only enable AusPost to grab the receiver's email and phone number from an odd parcel, but would compel the person to create an account with AusPost and to be in their grip continuously.
ZZ, 4 July 2024
Also, if you privacy is important to you, avoid using AusPost mail redirection service. If you do, AusPost will give your new address to a shitload of organisations, some of which you may not want to have anything to do with.
If you must use AusPost mail redirection, make sure to say NO for "Address Update Service: Would you like us to share your new address details when asked by organisations who already have your old details?". Otherwise AusPost will give your new address to anyone who has your old address.
AusPost also sells the address information (they call it Movers Statistics) to anyone who wishes to buy it: government organisations, property developers, marketing agencies, researchers and any other enterprises who would pay for it. Currently AusPost say that the data is "de-identified", but we all know that in Australia any "de-identified" can easily become "identified", cross-referenced and linked to various data sources — just look at what happened to Australian Census!
So, don't be lazy. Take care of your change of address yourself. Do not involve AusPost in this process. If you are planning to move, tell your new address to the organisations that you want to tell it to (or are forced to tell it to by law), and close your accounts with all those organisations that you no longer want to deal with. Request that they delete your old address and all you personal data, so that they lose the right to acquire your new address from AusPost or anyone else.
If you don't protect your own privacy, nobody else will do it for you. Nobody cares about your privacy and security. Quite the contrary: each organisation cares about snatching as much of your data as possible and using it in any possible way to maximise their profits.
ZZ, 4 July 2024
This was a great read. If only I'd found it before they got my email. My PO Box is with a 3rd party, making things slightly worse.
Anonymous, 20 February 2025
Here are the annual fees for small boxes at a LPO in a large and busy country town in New South Wales for 1998-2004, if you can use them, as they run back into years prior to the information you have published:
Invoice issue date Amount
1998/02/19 $44.00
1999/02/18 $45.00
2000/03/23 $48.35 (GST introduced part way through the year ?)
2001/02/23 $49.50
2002/02/19 $52.00
2003/02/19 $52.00
In each case, the rental period for a year runs from 1 April to 31 March.
According to my (now late) mother, writing to me overseas in a letter in the 1980s, whose memory may be incorrect, the annual fee for a small box in 1976 was $4 for the principal post office in the town. In 1976 the LPO for the above invoices where the box was located was not yet in business. The source of my information is the invoices, invoices which I still have. The source of my mother's information was her memory.
In the first 49 days of 2025 I have received about 12—15 postal items, including one parcel addressed to the correct PO Box, but in the wrong country, the USA, posted from the United Kingdom.
That is a notable achievement in that a parcel addressed to NSW in the USA is correctly delivered to Australia instead of the United States, and the parcel travelled quicker than air mail for envelopes, too.
Donald Telfer, 23 February 2025
Thank you very much for the information. I added it to the article.
I'd like to formally raise a concern about the lack of transparency in PO Box pricing, particularly the distinction between private and business rates. For many years, I was charged the private rate and recently received a renewal invoice for $164. This was later withdrawn and replaced with an invoice for $181 - without explanation.
Neither my local post office consultant nor head office could clearly identify where this business pricing is presented on their website. The only reference appears deep within an expandable FAQ, far from the main pricing area.
This creates confusion and does not meet fair disclosure standards. Clear side-by-side pricing for private and business users should be displayed upfront, especially when existing customers are being reclassified or charged differently without notice.
I respectfully request Australia Post reviews how this information is communicated to customers.
Just wondering if there has always been a price difference for residential and business post boxes and how much that difference was for previous years?
Even AI, google search and their own website bot could not find it.
Mumma, 27 May 2025
Thank you for all your articles on Australia Post (AP).
I recently stopped my Sydney GPO after many years, as it had moved 3X, and is now in a very inconvenient spot without close public transport access and limited parking. The price has risen unreasonably to now over $500/annum for, as previously discussed, an inferior service. I was about to try and open, at great inconvenience, a local PO Box which is significantly cheaper, but after reading this information will not do so. There is also the fact that the PO attached to the GPO Box area in the city will not take any cash payments. It is cashless. This is unjustified and also very inconvenient. I note that the deterioration of AP is not in isolation. Try getting anywhere with the UK postal service. It is worse, as the long running UK postal scandal has demonstrated. For example; when I sent a load of valuable books to the UK they went astray and could not be recovered. Despite insurance, I was not compensated, the wait taking so long that in the end it all got lost in the system.
Businesses and private customers are very unhappy with "Australia Post" but very appreciative of the dedicated posties who take their work, for the most part, very seriously and responsibly. Businesses are employing third parties and courier companies (often less reliable), instead of this nationwide established system. We are being pushed to accept emails for our invoices whether we want them or not, and which can be terminated at the will of the Techno-Feudal Lords at any time. The government is eliminating paper forms and often will not send out any mail insisting on electronic communication, even discouraging personal visits.
I do not understand what anyone has to gain by running down this essential service. If anything AP is in a position to increase its responsibilities and revenue. What other service has access to each and every address in the country? Who would in a be better position to help the isolated, old and/or lonely than a booked call with someone who has been criminally checked and must be of good character, than the posties of AP? The posties also have to be fit to do the job and they are doing their postal run somewhere everyday - so they could be the link to maintain the welfare of our most vulnerable and then report to the relatives or other caretakers who have booked this extended service. They could call in to anyone, for a fee, to see that they are well. This postal call-in service has be trialled with great success in parts of the UK and France. Minimum disruption from an established ethical service - maximum effect and increased revenue raising possibilities. Instead there is forced contraction of the services offered.
Manda Maderson, 29 May 2025
I found this page by googling "registered post letter tracking stuck in transit" and now see that I am not alone.
Another commenter above described a situation identical to mine: I used an AusPost's Registered Post prepaid envelope because it was very important for me to make sure that my letter, which contained sensitive documents, wouldn't get lost, or stolen, or discarded, or whatever else AusPost does to all the items that never arrive to their destination. It cost me $9.90 for the thin letter. The tracking progressed through a few facilities and then stopped at "in transit" a few weeks ago. I am really worried that my sensitive personal data could now be anywhere in anyone's wrong hands. And now I see that contacting Australia Post's missing items service will most likely not help to find my letter, but will only give AusPost a chance to grab my information.
I wish we had a postal option in this country, be it "registered", or "gold", or "platinum", or "diamond", or whatever, that actually were reliable. Of course it would be expensive (as if the current Registered Post weren't already expensive enough!), but I'd pay up just to have no such worriess!
Anonymous, 7 October 2025