Daily mail deliveries appear to be a thing of the past in Australia, with the gaps between postal worker visits set to widen.
Australia Post chief executive Paul Graham has announced that letter deliveries in Australia will eventually move to every third day, as Australians send fewer letters and shift towards parcels.
“As we see mail decline, we believe it’s inevitable that we’ll need to move to every third day and beyond,” Graham told AAP.
“The time frame for that is unknown because it will depend on how quickly it declines, but that will certainly be a topic we will be taking up with the government post the election.
“As we are seeing globally, letter volumes are falling and this is expected to continue at pace.”
Letter Decline and Parcel Boom
While parcel deliveries have mounted up for Australia Post, the number of letters being mailed has declined by two-thirds since 2008.
According to government figures, Australia Post delivered around half a billion parcels from 2022-23, while the average household receives only about two addressed letters every week.
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In 2024, Australia Post delivered 102.8 million parcels, generating $4 billion of its $5 billion total revenue.
The company also reported $250 million in pre-tax profit for the first half of the financial year—up from $33.6 million the previous year—thanks largely to parcels and services.
Digital Shopping Rise
Then there are shopping bonanzas, such as “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” where many online retailers offer cheaper products.
According to Australia Post, 72 percent of Australians took advantage of these online sales and discounts while shopping for Christmas in 2024—with 7.6 million households making online purchases across November and December.
In December last year, Australia Post announced the move to letter deliveries on every second day, as well as an increase to a $1.50 stamp per letter.
The move helped Australia Post cut its losses by more than 54 percent.
However, Graham said the postal service’s parcel wing could not rest on its laurels, either.
Competitors in the delivery industry are increasing.
“That’s, you know, the thing that certainly keeps us awake at night,” Graham said.
“Competition is intensifying and our traditional revenue streams are shrinking.”
Australia Post will soon trial parcel-only outlets, and is working on expanding its parcel services.
“We’re a marathon here but we need to run fast,” Graham said.
“Making sure we take our stakeholders on that journey with us, both communities, customers, as well as the government of the day, because they will need to step up and understand the need for further reform.”
