Everything about Australia Post totally explained
Australia Post is trading name of the
Australian Government-owned Australian Postal Corporation, the
postal service with a monopoly in
Australia. Australia Post has established itself as the most comprehensive provider of parcels and logistics services within the Asia–Pacific region.
History
The first postmaster of New South Wales was an ex-convict,
Isaac Nichols, who took the post in 1809, and postal services grew throughout the Australian colonies as they were established. His main job was to take charge of letters and parcels arriving by ship, to avoid the chaos of people rushing onto the ships as soon as they arrived at Sydney's wharves.
A regular Sydney-Melbourne overland service began in 1838, as did embossed covers (the world's first)prepaid postage, and by 1849 uniform postal rates were established by agreement between the colonies. Monthly steamship sea mail to the United Kingdom was established in 1856. The separate colonies joined the
Universal Postal Union in 1891.
In 1901, the colonial mail systems were merged into the
Postmaster General's Department (or PMG). This body was responsible for
telegraph and domestic
telephone operations as well as postal mail. The world's first large-scale mechanical mail sorting system was introduced in Australia (according to Australia Post), and operational in the
Sydney GPO in
1967. This coincided with the introduction of the current system of 4-digit
Postcodes in Australia.
On
July 1,
1975, separate government commissions were created to undertake the operational responsibilities of the PMG. One of these was the
Australian Postal Commission, trading as Australia Post. It later changed its name to the Australian Postal Corporation on
January 1,
1989 when it was corporatised, although it still trades as Australia Post.
Current activities
Over the last 15 years, Australia Post has broadened its product and service range and invested in major technology-based infrastructure programs. Today, it operates in three core areas: letters, retail and agency services, and parcels and logistics. It offers delivery services, retail products, financial services (such as bill payment and banking through its retail network), logistics and fulfilment services, and direct marketing and database management services. It also has a number of subsidiaries and joint ventures, including Sai Cheng Logistics International – a joint-venture logistics company established with China Post.
Australia Post remains a government business enterprise. It is self-funding and uses its assets and resources to earn profits, which can be reinvested in the business or returned as dividends to its shareholder, the Commonwealth Government. Under its community service obligations, Australia Post is committed to providing an accessible, affordable and reliable letter service for all Australians wherever they reside. The corporation reaches more than 10 million Australian addresses; operates 4,462 postal outlets; and serves more than a million customers in postal outlets every business day.
Under the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989, letters up to 250 grams are reserved to Australia Post – other people and businesses can only carry them if they charge four times the basic postage rate. All of the other goods and services provided by Australia Post are sold in fully competitive markets and, in 2005–06, nearly 90 per cent of the corporation’s profit (from ordinary activities before net interest and tax) came from selling products and services in competitive markets.
Board Members
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee (EC) of Australia Post consists of the following people:
Graeme Johns (Managing Director)
Jim Marshall (General Manager, Mail & Networks Division)
Bill Mitchell (General Manager, Commercial Division)
Mark Howard (General Manager, Corporate Infrastructure Services Division)
Darryn O'connor (Chief Financial Officer)
Michael McCloskey (Coporate Secretary)
Shane Morris (Group Manager, Corporate Strategy)
Rod McDonald (Group Manager, Human Resources)
Stephen Walter (Group Manager, Corporate Public Affairs)
Paul Burke (Manager, Board & Shareholder Liaison)
Employment
Empty cells have no data available for that year. All results at 30 June.
Australia Post Facts: 2005-06
From the 2005-06 Annual Report.
Handled 5.42 billion mail items.
Revenue of $4.53 billion.
Profit (before tax) of $515.6 million.
Delivered 94.9% of letters on time or early.
Just over half of Australia Post's revenue comes from delivering letters, the rest comes from other activities.
Processed 194 million agency-based bill payment transactions, 30 million banking transactions and over 1 million passport applications.
Australia Post has over 4,462 outlets.
Australia Post has over 15,436 street posting boxes
Australia Post has over 34,800 employees.
Australia Post owns 50% of Australian air Express and Star Track Express with the remainder of both companies held by Qantas
All undelivered items go to the mail redistribution centres, which attempts to return the items to their sender.
Basic postage rate
The basic postage rate for a small letter has increased over the years due to inflation but influenced in recent years by a complex interplay between Australia Post's monopoly over small items, and need to provide service to all Australian addresses at the mandated basic rate.
4c - 1966 Introduction of decimal currency
5c - 1967
6c - 1970
7c - 1971
10c - 1974
18c - 1975 Australia Post established- price rise to actual cost
20c - 1976
22c - 1980
24c - 1981
27c - 1982
30c - 1983
33c - 1985
36c - 1986
37c - 1987
39c - 1988
41c - 1989
43c - 1990
45c - 1992
50c - 2003 - presentFurther Information
Get more info on 'Australia Post'.
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