Dangerous goods

Safety regulations prohibit many substances from being posted. These include explosive, highly flammable, radioactive or dangerous articles.

Other items may be carried in parcels only if they meet certain conditions and are packed in a specific manner.

If you have any doubts about a particular item you wish to send, please consult the Dangerous and Prohibited Goods and Packaging Post Guide (pdf 3,164kb) for more information.

Lithium batteries

All lithium batteries are now classified as dangerous goods and cannot be carried by air.

Australia Post cannot accept lithium batteries or devices containing lithium batteries for mailing overseas or for domestic air carriage. Parcels containing these items will now only be transported within Australia and by road only.

We have developed guidelines which set out the requirements that must be met when posting lithium batteries or items containing them, including watches, clocks, mobile phones and MP3 players.

For more information, refer to the customer guidelines for sending lithium batteries (pdf 48kb).

Dangerous goods exemptions

Our policy does permit very small quantities of some dangerous goods (referred to as 'exempted' dangerous goods) when carried on an individual contract basis and by surface transport only.

The Australia Post standard terms and conditions (T&C) outline those articles specifically permitted in Part D - Prohibited Goods, Clause 62 through 65 inclusive.

If you have items of this nature that you wish to transport by post, you will need to enter into a parcels contract with us. Please speak to your Australia Post account manager, or for futher information you can also contact us.