Australia Post

Australia post

Australia has a postal system which is reasonably efficient. One oddity of the system is that G.S.T. (Goods and Services Tax) applies to domestic postage, but not to international postage. As a result, different stamps must be used for the two purposes. When purchasing stamps, therefore, you must make it clear whether you require domestic stamps, with G.S.T. included, or international stamps, on which G.S.T. is not paid. You may not use international stamps on domestic mail. You may use domestic stamps on international mail, but only if you put on 10% extra (to cover the fact that 9.09% of the money paid for the stamps will not go to the Post Office, but will have to be given to the government as tax).

Parcels to overseas destinations may be sent by air mail, by economy air mail (slower and slightly cheaper), or by sea mail to more distant countries only. All methods are relatively expensive.

For items weighing up to 250 grams, a prepaid air mail envelope can be purchased. If you buy a pack of ten such envelopes, the cost of the envelopes themselves is negligible. You pay only for the postage. If your envelope weighs more than 250 grams, you may add the extra postage.

The Poste Restante system allows mail to be held for you for collection at any post office for up to a month. There is no charge. At the larger post offices a computerised system is employed and you can use a computer terminal to check whether you have mail or not.