Delivery and Addressing Challenges in Australia

Australia has a well-developed postal and courier network, and in cities most parcels arrive without trouble. The difficulties come from scale, from the way rural and large-site addresses work, and from the difference between mail addresses and delivery points.

Distance and low-density areas

Australia is a large country with long stretches between settlements. Outside the main cities, properties are far apart and delivery times and costs rise. For an online shop, the postcode is often used to calculate shipping, but a four-digit code can cover a very large rural area, so it says little about the exact location of the customer. The address therefore has to carry the weight, and it needs to be clear.

Mail points versus delivery points

A roadside mailbox, a PO Box or a Locked Bag is a place where mail is collected, not necessarily where the customer lives. Couriers carrying larger parcels generally need a physical address they can drive to, so asking for a street address at checkout, in addition to any postal address, avoids failed attempts. Labels that mix a PO Box with a street suburb are a frequent source of confusion; the address format guide explains how to separate them.

Large sites and shared entrances

Shopping centres, industrial estates, universities, farms and apartment complexes have one street address but many entrances, loading docks and buildings. A driver arriving at the correct street number may still not know which entrance serves the recipient. Unit numbering inside complexes also varies, and there may be no visible signage from the road.

New developments and similar names

Fast-growing outer suburbs can have new streets that are not yet in every map or courier system. Australia also has many repeated place and street names, so a suburb name without the state can lead to the wrong city. Always include the state abbreviation and the postcode together; see the postcode format page.

How an exact-location code can help

A UPCS code is generated from a point selected on a map and takes the form AU-XXXX-XXXX. Each code stands for a 3 m by 3 m cell, so a customer can mark the gate, the loading bay or the correct entrance of a property. It does not replace the address or the Australia Post postcode, and it is not issued by any postal operator. At checkout, it is simply an extra field that a courier can open in a map to get directions.

For shops built on WooCommerce, PrestaShop or OpenCart, UPCS offers plugins that place the map in the checkout and save the code with the order; see the plugins page. Custom sites can use the embeddable map described in the documentation.

To compare this with how customers can find the right postcode in the first place, read how to find an Australian postcode. The full set of pages starts at the Australia overview.