Australian Postal Corporation

Australia Post

Type	Government-owned corporation (owned by the Commonwealth of Australia)
Industry	Postal service
Predecessor	Postmaster-General's Department
Founded	25 April 1809 (1809-04-25)
Headquarters	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Number of locations	4,429 metropolitan retail outlets 2561 retail outlets in rural & remote areas
Area served	Australia
Key people	John Stanhope (Chairman of the Board) Ahmed Fahour (Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer)
Products	Postal services, Digital Services, Retail, Express post, Logistics, Printing Services
Revenue	A$ 6.6 billion (2016)
Operating income	A$ 400 million (2016)
Net income	A$ 36 million (2016)
Number of employees	32,732 (2013)
Website	auspost.com.au

Australia Post provides postal services in Australia and its overseas territories. "Australia Post" is the trading name, Australian Postal Corporation (formerly the Australian Postal Commission) is the Australian-Government-owned entity responsible for the services.

The head office of Australia Post is located at 111 Bourke Street, Melbourne 3000. This location also serves as a post office.

Before colonial control of mail started in 1809, mail was usually passed on by ad hoc arrangements made between transporters, storekeepers and settlers. These arrangements were flexible and depended on cooperation of the country people. It was common for early settlers to ride many miles out of their way to deliver neighbours' mail that had been collected from informal distribution points.

The first organisation of a postal service in Australia commenced in 1809 with the appointment in Sydney of the first Postmaster of New South Wales. He was an ex-convict, Isaac Nichols, who took the post operating from his home in George Street, Sydney. His main job was to take charge of letters and parcels arriving by ship, to avoid the chaos of people rushing aboard ships as soon as they arrived at Sydney's wharves. Nichols would pick up the mail and post a list of recipients outside his house. He would advertise in the Sydney Gazette the names of all those who received mail. Recipients paid a fixed price of one shilling per letter to collect mail from Nichols' home, with parcels costing more depending on how heavy they were. VIP addressees were accorded personal delivery by Nichols.

The Postal Act of 1825 allowed the governor to fix postage rates and appoint postmasters outside Sydney, enabling the first organised postal service. Letter deliveries began in 1828 and posting boxes first appeared in 1831. Stamps were not required in those days, as the addressee paid for the letter, not the sender.

Postal services grew throughout the Australian colonies as they were established. A regular overland service between Sydney and Melbourne, Port Phillip District began in 1838. Also in 1838, the first prepaid "stamped" letter sheets were introduced in Sydney. By 1849, uniform postal rates were established by agreement between the colonies. Prepaid adhesive stamps were introduced in the 1850s. Victoria was the first to make prepayment by stamps compulsory in 1852. Monthly steamship sea mail to the United Kingdom was established in 1856. The separate colonies joined the Universal Postal Union in 1891.