Mail service outsourcing 'a breach'
THE Howard Government is preparing to deregulate some Australia Post services and has admitted some of its functions already are being performed illegally by private contractors.
Communications Minister Richard Alston will introduce legislation in the new year opening parts of Australia Post’s reserved service to foreign competition.
Industry sources said yesterday the changes could open the floodgates to many players — but they would need to already own existing networks to make it pay.
Mail houses and courier companies could provide both document exchange and bulk mail services within the main cities. Most are dealing already with the big corporates in each state capital.
The big courier and international mail operators with extensive operations in Australia would also be poised to take a slice. Not only do they have huge teams of vehicles and delivery staff — they have existing business contacts with some of Australia’s largest companies.
DHL, FedEx, UPS and Spring (the local mail arm of the Dutch-owned TNT group) are among those being named by industry insiders as possible players.
Without those existing networks, however, it would be too expensive for new players to mount a logistics operation in competition with Australia Post.
The latest government push for deregulation of Australia Post’s document exchange and bulk mail services comes two years after Senator Alston unsuccessfully tried to deregulate all aspects of the company except standard letters.
Australian companies such as GoMail and Ausdoc already control document exchanges, but new laws would “legitimise” the operations of those companies and allow the entry of foreign investors. Senator Alston admitted before a Senate estimates committee that the practice of contracting out parts of the reserved service was “technically” in breach of the Australian Postal Corporation Act, which protects the monopoly Australia Post holds on all aspects of mail delivery.
“Technically, the act does not allow a practice that has been occurring for several decades, and that is why we are looking to make this change,” he said.
