Major Australia Post change for Christmas
Australia Post is expecting another huge parcel-delivery season this Christmas.
With Christmas less than six weeks away, Australia Post has announced it will now be delivering parcels on weekends to help deal with a surge in demand.
Australia Post will start temporary weekend deliveries this Saturday across all metro capitals and some regional cities and towns.
Aussies are also being warned to get their Christmas presents sorted ahead of the delivery cut-off time of Monday, December 18, or risk them not arriving in time.
Australia Post’s executive general manager parcel, post and eCommerce services, Gary Starr, said the new weekend deliveries would help ensure parcels arrived on time.
“We’ve been preparing for another big sales and festive season, including recruiting thousands of additional team members, and giving customers more convenient delivery options, such as the opportunity to collect missed deliveries from free 24/7 Australia Post Parcel Lockers instead of the Post Office,” Starr said.
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The national postal service delivered 52 million parcels last December and is expecting another huge peak season ahead as Aussies take advantage of cyber sales, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
“As the sales events ramp up and online shopping surges in the lead-up to Christmas, our temporary Saturday and Sunday service is just another way we are supporting our customers at the busiest time of the year,” Starr said.
What are the Christmas cut-off dates?
Parcels should be sent by Monday, December 18 for standard post to most destinations within Australia. If sending via Express Post, the cut-off date is Thursday, December 21.
People sending to or from Western Australia and the Northern Territory should allow a few extra days to ensure their delivery arrives in time for Christmas.
Australia Post has also called on kids sending Santa mail to post their letters to Santa before December 1, with the post office delivering more than 170,000 letters last year.
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