The Visual Media Association has gone on the record to express its ‘disappointment with the outcome’ of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) notionally approving a 13.3% price increase from Australia Post.
The first Australia Post Office was established in NSW in1809
Unless the new Minister for Communications, Anika Wells, steps in at the 11th hour to oppose the price hike, from July 17th stamps for ordinary small letters will cost $1.70 (up from $1.50), stamps for ordinary large letters (125-250g) will cost $5.10 (up from $4.50) and stamps for lighter large letters (<125g) will cost $3.40 (up from $3).
ACCC Commissioner, Anna Brakey, said the call was based on evidence Australia Post's letter operations were bringing in less revenue than the money it was costing to run it, albeit conceding: “Our final decision recommends Australia Post examine ways to alleviate affordability issues for businesses, including those businesses subject to requirements to send physical mail.”
But VMA CEO, Kellie Northwood, is concerned that this recommendation is not strong enough and expressed particular concerns about the ‘lack of
understanding of the important role mail plays across regional Australia’, saying: “We are preparing an industry summary, including an industry forecast across the letterbox sector, and working with Australia Post to address opportunities for operational and regulatory relaxation to reduce costs for our mail industry members in their mail preparation.”
In its submission to the ACCC, Australia Post said its letters business is in decline, and that currently it only delivers around two letters to each household per week. It expects reserved letter volumes to continue to decrease by around 10.6% annually until 2027/28.
Australia Post’s submission also noted that the proposed price of $1.70 for a single postage stamp is below the current median price of $1.93 among OECD postal service operators.
Charities will still be offered discount rates. Also, the price of concession stamps ($3 for five) and stamps for seasonal greeting cards (65 cents) will not change.
