Privatisation of Australia Post

The National Commission of Audit’s Report, released today, recommends that Commonwealth bodies that operate and compete in contestable markets – including Australia Post – should be considered for their “privatisation potential”. In the case of Australia Post, privatisation could come as early as 2016.POAAL is against the privatisation of Australia Post.Australia would not benefit from its national postal operator being privatised.Australia Post operates under community service obligations. These CSOs insist that postal services are available to all Australians, including those in out-of-the-way places. The Report notes that the “scoping study would need to examine community service obligations in letter delivery and other ‘reserved’ services.”A privatised postal operator would focus on the main population centres at the expense of customers in rural Australia.Australians living in rural Australia would also be seriously disadvantaged if Australia Post were to be privatised.Mail and parcel deliveries are carried out by Contractors, particularly in regional, rural and remote areas. Australia Post already has a balance between privately owned and operated post offices and its corporate post offices.Australia is a vast country, with a significant percentage of its population concentrated in metropolitan areas on the eastern seaboard. Australia poses unique challenges when it comes to delivering postal services in its sparsely-populated rural and remote areas.POAAL has watched closely as European postal operators have been privatised, and it appears that there would be no benefits to Australians if Australia Post were to be privatised.Prior to the 2013 federal election, POAAL sought and received assurances from all major political parties that they had no plans to privatise Australia Post.POAAL will continue to lobby and represent Contractors' interests on this matter.