Post Office

Yes, participating Post Offices can take photos of children and infants. Our team will do their best to capture photos that meet the necessary guidelines, however it is not always easy to take passport-compliant photos of children and infants.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade requires that all Australian passport photos are taken against a pale background, irrespective of the person’s age. If your child needs to be held due to age or other circumstances, it may be difficult to use our supplied backdrop. For this reason, please bring a white baby blanket or wrap (or similar) with you to use as a backdrop if required.

 Yes, in most cases, staff at our Post Offices can witness your signature free of charge. 

Please note that it’s up to individual organisations whether they accept signatures witnessed by Post Office staff. Please check with the relevant organisation before visiting a Post Office.

Visit witnessing signatures for more information.

• the Post Office you’d like to lodge items from is able to accept eParcels
• you choose a Post Office in the same area or ‘charge zone’ as your primary lodgement point

If you can't collect your parcel or mail from the Post Office, you can:

Check for extended hours

Visit our locations and hours tool to see if the Post Office has extended hours or is open Saturdays. This will give you more flexibility for pick-up time.

Arrange for someone else to collect your item

In most cases, you can nominate someone else to collect a parcel or letter from the Post Office for you.

You can either:

• print and sign a collection authorisation form (PDF 83kB), nominating someone to collect on your behalf
• arrange for someone else who lives or works at the delivery address to collect it for you

At the Post Office counter, we’ll ask them to show proof of identity. If the item they’re collecting was sent to a Parcel Collect address or transferred from a Parcel Locker, they’ll also need to show the collection notification email or SMS we sent you. At the counter, they can show the email or SMS – forwarded by you – on their phone, or present a printout of the email.

In some cases, though, the sender may require that you collect and sign for the item in-person. This means the collection authorisation form can’t be used. If you’re ordering something online, you should be made aware of this when placing your order.

Ask for it to be transferred

If you've changed your address or plans, you can have your item transferred to another Post Office for collection.

The small transfer fee can be paid at the Post Office counter when you collect your item.

Opening hours vary between Post Offices. Standard trading hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm – excluding public holidays. However, some outlets may be open shorter or longer hours. Some outlets also trade on weekends.

You can use our locations and hours tool to view the opening hours of individual outlets.