The government's changes will allow Australia Post to cut delivery frequency in metropolitan areas from daily to every second day,extend the required delivery time for intrastate letters to five days and remove the priority mail letter product.
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said the new standards,to be reviewed in June 2021,would give Australia Post the"flexibility to respond to the increased demand for parcels,which will help posties continue to deliver essential products and services to Australians".
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Ms Holgate said the number of parcels was up 80 per cent over the last four weeks – and more than 100 per cent on some days – but there has been"extreme volatility"in other parts of the business. Letters have dropped 50 per cent some days and unaddressed mail,used by businesses for promotional material,has collapsed by 75 per cent. Passport business is down 50 per cent.
"It's almost like we have had five or 10 years squashed into one month,"Ms Holgate toldThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age."The amount of decline that we could probably have expected over five years has happened in letters,but in parcels there has also been that massive growth."
Business and government account for 97 per cent of letter volumes and the"hibernation"across the economy has cut that demand,with many companies also turning to online alternatives to mail.
"Some of this will mean that letter volumes won't completely return after the crisis,"she said.