Australia Post provides services to many Australians, and regularly visits over 12.7 million delivery points across the country offering more than just a postal service. Australia Post is renowned for its nationwide coverage and reliable network with several delivery options to meet the growing needs of customers and consumers.
This article covers Australia Post standard and express domestic services. For information about other Australia Post services, see these articles:
For eParcel International, see the Australia Post International article.
For eParcel OnDemand, see the Australia Post OnDemand article.
For MyPost Business, see the MyPost Business article.
Services available
Shippit partner account:
Not available
BYO account:
eParcel Domestic Standard = Shippit standard service level
eParcel Domestic Express = Shippit express service level
eParcel Metro = Shippit express service level
💡NOTE: This article covers Australia Post standard and express domestic services. For information about other Australia Post services, see these articles:
For eParcel International, see the Australia Post International article.
For eParcel OnDemand, see the Australia Post OnDemand article.
For MyPost Business, see the MyPost Business article.
Serviceability
eParcel standard domestic = Australia wide
eParcel express domestic - Australia wide
Compatibility
Refer to our Carrier services for full compatibility, limitations, and restrictions.
For a full list of restrictions on the eParcel network please refer to their website.
Australia Post domestic services are suitable for:
Small consumer products
Alcohol (with prior approval)
Food (non perishable)
Lightweight e-commerce products
Limited dangerous goods (refer to their dangerous goods policy)
Australia Post domestic services are not suitable for:
Bulky goods and palletised freight
Unapproved dangerous goods
Perishables
Prohibited, restricted, and dangerous goods
For the most up-to-date information, always refer to the Australia Post website and dangerous goods policy.
You can also download the Australia Post dangerous goods guide and the Australia Post prohibited and restricted item packaging guide.
Packaging guidelines
Items should be wrapped in a way that will ensure safety for the delivery person and the customer. It is your responsibility to package items correctly. Packaging should comply with Australian consumer and transport laws.
See the full Australia Post packaging guidelines on their website.
You can also refer to our recommended packaging guidelines.
Surcharges
Surcharges that are included in your BYO rate card or sent through the API are reflected in Shippit quoted pricing. Additional surcharges may not always be included and may be charged by the carrier after booking.
Fuel surcharges
If you are using your Australia Post account with Shippit using internal rate cards, you need to update your fuel surcharge each month. If you prefer, you can opt in to automated fuel surcharge updates instead. This means that your rate cards are automatically updated when the fuel surcharge changes, and your Australia Post quotes stay synchronised, without monthly uploads or ongoing maintenance.
You can automate fuel surcharge updates for each Australia Post service you use, across Australia Post eParcel Standard, Express, and Metro.
To start using Australia Post automated fuel surcharge updates, contact your Shippit account manager, or the Shippit configuration team.
Insurance
If you have insurance included in your own BYO account, this will carry over with your BYO integration. If you need to raise a claim for lost or damaged goods, contact Australia Post directly.
Alternatively, you can enable Shippit Transit Protection to cover the retail value of your goods if lost or damaged during transit.
Pickup and collection
Contact Australia Post directly for all pickup and delivery support.
Activation
Setting up a BYO account
To set up your BYO integration, contact our Configuration Team with your account details. You will need to have all of your carrier account credentials ready.
Our team will review your details and usually get back to you in 1-3 business days however BYO account activation can take 1-2 weeks to complete.
Service codes currently available
eParcel wine service
If you are shipping wine with Australia Post, you can use the eParcel wine service, with these service codes:
3O85
3P85
3V85
7O35
7O85
Fallback rates
Australia Post API outages are rare, but to help you plan for the unexpected, you can configure fallback rates in your Shippit account. In the event of downtime or latency, your account can fall back to these preconfigured rates so that you can continue shipping.
These rates can be applied to each Australia Post service you use, across Australia Post eParcel Standard, Express, and Metro.
If you mainly use Australia Post, you can choose to use the fallback rate whenever there is an outage. Alternatively, if you use multiple carriers, you can choose to use your existing allocation rules, and only apply the fallback rate if no other carriers return a quote.
To start using Australia Post fallback rates, contact your Shippit account manager, or the Shippit configuration team with this information:
The fallback price you want to use, such as a dollar amount per parcel, or percentage markup.
The estimated delivery time to apply when the fallback rate is used
Multi-article quoting
If you are using your Australia Post account with Shippit using internal rate cards, you can also turn on multi-article quoting. By default, your rate card applies a single rate to orders with more than one package, applying the rate to the total weight of the combined parcels. If you find that this leads to inaccuracies with your shipments, you can turn on multi-article quoting, and calculate the price of each individual parcel in an order instead.
You can use multi-article quoting for each Australia Post service you use, across Australia Post eParcel Standard, Express, and Metro.
To start using Australia Post multi-article quoting, contact your Shippit account manager, or the Shippit configuration team.
Get your Australia Post API key
To get an Australia Post API key, you need:
An Australia Post eParcel account, or an Australia Post business credit account
Your Australia Post account number
💡 NOTE: If you do not have an account with Australia Post, contact Australia Post to open a business credit account, and ask to include eParcel.
Getting your Australia Post API key
Visit the Australia Post Developer Centre, log in to your account, and click Complete registration.
On the Shipping and Tracking API Registration page, complete your company details. Make sure you include any account numbers you have for your eParcel, StarTrack, and OnDemand accounts. Click Next to continue.
In the Are you accessing the API through a platform partner field, choose Yes and select Shippit from the list. This allows our team to troubleshoot any issues with Australia Post on your behalf. Click Next to continue.
Complete your state or territory. You can also include additional account numbers in the comments field if you could not include them all previously. Click Send to finish your registration.
In the confirmation email that Australia Post sends you, follow the steps to retrieve your API and secret keys.
💡 NOTE: If you have any problems retrieving your API key, you can contact the Australia Post Lodgement Support team directly.
Best practices
Using Australia Post through Shippit can streamline your shipping processes. Here are some best practices for shipping with Australia Post:
Australia Post's standard and express services have you covered across a wide range of locations in Australia. Make sure your shipping addresses are within their serviceable areas, and watch out for size and weight limits.
Because your account is directly with Australia Post, Shippit don't send you a delivery invoice for orders, your payment arrangement with Australia Post remains the same. You might receive a subscription invoice from Shippit, depending on your Shippit plan. For more information about the different Shippit invoices, see the billing and invoicing article.
When you use carriers directly through Shippit, you can keep your operating hours updated in your Shippit account. However, Australia Post can't access this setting. Make sure you maintain your pick-up arrangement with Australia Post so that you don't miss out.
If you’re shipping dangerous goods, make sure you’ve got the proper approval from Australia Post, and always check the guidelines before you ship.
If you want to ship internationally with Australia Post using Delivery Duty Paid (DDP), you must have an AGPL product code provided by Australia Post.
Make sure you manifest your orders within Australia Post’s cut-off times, especially for express services. Missing these cut-offs could delay your deliveries.