Staying true to our purpose
in the community

Australia Post is essential to
87% of regional and rural customers

Australia Post plays a pivotal role in smaller and more isolated communities where advocacy and use of our services are highest.

In a January 2014 survey commissioned by Australia Post, 87 per cent of respondents stated that our network of 2,560 rural and remote post offices is essential to meeting the needs of their community.

To support customers when and where they need us the most, in June 2014 we announced a package of initiatives to strengthen the viability of rural and regional post offices. This means working with our licensees to introduce a range of financial and technology measures – such as increased payments to post office operators and new point-of-sale technology – so that smaller and more isolated communities can enjoy access to more important services including banking and card payments.

Image: James Kerin (Licensee) and Chris Brown (Manager) operate the Clunes Licensed Post Office in Victoria.

Right now, we face the significant challenge of managing a letters service in decline.

At the same time, we are transforming our network to provide improved communications support, new parcel delivery capabilities and access to more everyday essential services.

As we implement these changes, we remain true to our purpose to help citizens, businesses and government – not just some, but everyone, everywhere, every day; so that communities work better, and can prosper.

This has us keeping the contemporary needs of our people, customers and communities at the centre of every decision.

Reforming Australia's letters service

We're committed to maintaining a reliable, accessible postal service for all Australians. Under Section 27 of the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 we have a set of Community Service Obligation (CSOs) that require us to provide a service that is “reasonably accessible to all people in Australia on an equitable basis, wherever they reside or carry on business”.

In 2013–14 we again met or exceeded all of the prescribed targets that underpin our CSOs, but this is being achieved at an ever-increasing cost. The community's shift to online channels has led to a dramatic and irreversible decline in letter volumes. This year we expanded our delivery network to 11.3 million delivery points, contributing to a 4.8 per cent year-on-year decline in letter volumes delivered per letterbox. The financial cost associated with meeting our community service standards this year is estimated to be $203.5 million, up 17.0 per cent on last year.

Based on the experiences of our international counterparts the community's declining reliance on letters will continue to accelerate. With the current momentum of the business, the losses we incur in our letters division will soon overwhelm the profits we make from other sectors.

This involves making changes to our letters services, pricing and operations. In particular it means transitioning to a two-speed letters service – Priority and Regular – that is priced to recover the cost of delivering the service.

Supporting neighbourhoods in need

As we face the challenges and opportunities of the future we will continue to keep the community at the heart of our decision making. We believe that a thriving, vibrant community – connected physically and digitally – will drive our business to be sustainable and ensure that we continue to deliver essential services to all Australians.

It is with this philosophy in mind that the Our Neighbourhood program comes to life. It represents Australia Post's commitment to the community beyond its business operations and role as a large employer of people. It guides our community approach and the investments we make.

Our programs and partners represent a diverse group of dynamic activities and organisations who all share the common goal of creating a stronger sense of community. Collectively, they help us connect to all corners of the community and build better neighbourhoods. Individually, they focus our attention on specific community members and organisations that need help to participate in the communities in which they live and operate.

Reducing our environmental impact

This year a number of our operational decisions and initiatives directly contributed to better efficiency and productivity outcomes for us, as well as delivering real value for the community and for the environment. Fleet and energy management initiatives continued to reduce costs and emissions, contributing to a further 6.9 per cent decrease in our Scope 1 and 2 carbon footprint.

We're also extending our environmental and social commitments beyond our business and throughout our supply chain by helping our customers deliver better environmental outcomes. In November 2013 we introduced our new Environmental Sustainability Strategy to guide internal improvements, product development, and sourcing decisions. These actions support our “shared value” approach to delivering tangible, economic and social benefits for us, and the communities we serve.

Australia Post customer receiving mail

Capturing Australians' confidence

We have one of the strongest reputations of any company in Australia, according to the 2014 AMR Corporate Reputation Index.

The annual corporate reputational study is based on surveys of around 7,800 Australian adults aged 18–64, who were asked to rank 60 companies across seven areas: products and services, innovation, workplace, citizenship, governance, leadership and performance.

Our second place ranking (the same as last year), shows that Australians continue to identify with our brand after more than 200 years of delivering trusted services to the community.

Australia Post parcel lockers

Providing for all Australians

We're committed to maintaining our essential services for all Australians by ensuring they remain affordable for low-income groups and customers who depend on us to stay connected.

This year, we created the MyPost Concession Account for Australia's 5.7 million federal government concession cardholders. The MyPost Concession Account provides access to concession stamps, effectively freezing the cost of basic postage at 60 cents for account holders for the next three years. It also provides our customers with access to other concessional benefits as well as our MyPost Digital Mailbox.

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