Australia Post responds to claims made by “A Current Affair” over licensees’ agreements

Australia Post has issued a response to claims made by the news programme “A Current Affair” regarding the company’s agreements with its licensees.

According to a story posted on the 9News.com.au website yesterday (22 February): “At issue is an agreement with Australia Post that was written in 1993.

“It’s barely changed in close to 25 years, and for the most part, licensees are still getting paid the same rate to handle mail, despite the fact that there’s been an explosion of packages and parcels, as a result of internet shopping.

“The agreement doesn’t take into account the size of a parcel, how long licensees need to spend handling the package, or how long it’s stored in their post office.

“For scanning a PO box parcel, licensees only get paid a flat rate of 37c a package.

“Licensees say it’s not enough, and they don’t have the manpower or time to be handling the parcels for that amount of compensation from Australia Post.”

Wollongong Australia Post licensee Angela Cramp told A Current Affair that in 2010 she was “doing 10 hours of unpaid work a day to deal with the parcels” – and she estimated that  over the life of her three licensed Post Offices, she’s lost more than $1m “because of the outdated agreement”.

Australia Post has responded by posted the following statement on its own website: “Australia Post deeply respects the important role our licensees play in connecting Australians and serving communities across the country.

“We understand that, like Australia Post, they are facing significant changes in their businesses as consumers change to digital forms of communication, rather than sending letters, and bank branches and other services in many communities reduce.

“We are undertaking a comprehensive review of current payments to licensees. In the last five years Australia Post sales through licensed post offices have remained flat, although the mix of the work they do has changed significantly. We appreciate the pressure this has caused some of our licensees. In this period we have increased their payments by 35% to almost $440m.

“We are also currently undertaking a broader strategic review of Australia Post and, as a priority, we are working closely with our licensees to identify new services that will grow and sustain these businesses and revitalise their roles into the future.”