AUS POST - Reform amendments to the EPBC Act

Question

1. Australia Post states that consultation with licensee associations and representative bodies is ongoing. What specific proposals have changed as a direct result of that consultation? 2. Can you provide an example where licensee feedback materially altered a proposal? 3. Since July 2025, more than 55 services have been removed from the Licensed Post Office network. For each removal, was declining transaction volume the documented trigger, or were some the result of commercial or contract decisions by Australia Post? 4. Western Union is a specific example in which removal appears to reflect a commercial-relationship decision, not a volume decline. Can Australia Post clarify how many of the 55-plus removals were volume-driven and how many were contract or strategy-driven? 5. Is a shift from perpetual to fixed-term licences a proposed outcome of LPO Re-Imagined? A licensee's business valuation, financing and succession planning depend on a perpetual licence. How does a fixed-term arrangement deliver greater certainty? 6. Australia Post's network includes full-service Licensed and Corporate Post Offices as well as Community Postal Agents. A CPA does not provide banking, identity verification, bill payment or government services. How many full-service Licensed Post Offices have been converted to CPAs in the past 12 months, and are those conversions reported as maintained outlets in Australia Post's network figures? 7. When a full-service Post Office becomes a reduced-function outlet, such as a pharmacy counter, does Australia Post's reported network count change? 8. The Statement of Expectations requires Australia Post to avoid planned closures where the post office is the only remaining provider of face-to-face services. What is Australia Post's definition of unforeseen circumstances, and how many outlet closures in the past 12 months have been classified under that exemption? 9. Can Australia Post provide this committee with the number of closures classified as unforeseen in the past 12 months and the criteria applied? 10. Australia Post has, in at least one documented case, proposed replacing a viable, full-service metropolitan Post Office with a limited-function pharmacy counter, before considering reversing that decision following community backlash. What criteria govern a decision to replace a full-service Post Office with a reduced-function model, and if the original decision was appropriate under those criteria, why was it reversed? What is the framework that governs these decisions? 11. Australia Post says it continues to explore opportunities to introduce new or expanded services. Can you name the new services introduced to the network since July 2025 and quantify the foot traffic they have generated?

Answer

Please see the attached answer.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• SQ26-000902.pdf (opens in a new tab)