Australia Post will reduce letter deliveries in metropolitan areas to once every two days as part of a major service overhaul
- Australia Post to retain 2,000 motorbike posties to help deliver parcels
- Company recorded a 80 per cent increase in parcel volumes in past four weeks
- But letter service delivery service has seen a downturn during pandemic
- Will suspend priority letter services and deliver letters every second day
Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate said the changes would help posties carry more and ease the pressure on van delivery drivers.
Australians will have to wait longer for letters as regulatory requirements are relaxed for Australia Post to help it handle ‘unprecedented’ demand during the coronavirus pandemic.
Australia Post will also retrain 2000 motorbike posties to help deliver parcels across the country with more people at home and shopping online.
Its parcel volumes have doubled in the last four weeks, up 80 per cent from last year.
But Australia Post’s letter service – already a revenue drain for the company – has seen a downturn during the coronavirus pandemic.
It will suspend priority letter services, let posties deliver letters every second day and allow five days for intrastate posting.
The changes will be in place until June 30, 2021, and will be lifted after a review.
Motorbike posties will trade their bikes for vans or move into warehouses to help cope with the demand of the 1.8 million parcels being sent each day.
Australia Post has been slammed in a report that said customers found it unnecessarily difficult to use before recommending major changes
Chief executive Christine Holgate said the changes would help posties carry more and ease the pressure on van delivery drivers.
‘(Posties) have been swamped with huge volumes,’ she said.
‘Our people want to serve our country at this difficult and challenging time.’
Post offices will remain open under the regulatory changes but can close if they need to protect the health and safety of staff and customers.
The downturn in air travel, which has already seen Virgin Australia go into voluntary administration, has caused the biggest delays for postal delivery, Australia Post says.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said the changes would help posties keep up with demand, largely driven by Australians shopping and doing business online.
Post offices will remain open under the regulatory changes but can close if they need to protect the health and safety of staff and customers.