Australia Post sets up new NSW parcel facility

Australia Post is setting up a new parcel facility in southeast Sydney to keep up with record demand following Black Friday sales and in the lead up to Christmas.

Located in Botany, the 20,000 sqm facility is capable of processing over 100,000 parcels daily, bringing Australia Post’s total processing capacity in New South Wales to almost 1.5 million parcels per day.

The new site is part of the postal service’s $1 billion network investment program, which includes new dedicated parcel sorters in Strathfield and Chullora, each capable of processing over 8000 parcels per hour, and a new site planned in Western Sydney due to go live prior to Christmas 2022.

Australia Post has seen deliveries for online shopping increase by as much as 59 per cent in NSW year-on-year during the last four months, with the organisation consistently handling more than 4.7 million parcels a week.

“Residents in New South Wales have embraced online shopping this year more than any other state or territory, and in the last four months alone, almost 40 per cent of all online purchases made in Australia were made in the state,” said Paul Graham, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Australia Post.

“We’re thrilled to have this new facility online, as not only will it enable us to process and deliver more parcels this Christmas, it’s scanning capabilities mean we can provide more tracking notifications for our customers as well,” Graham said.

He continued that the new parcel facility will also reduce manual handling, significantly improving staff safety.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said lockdowns have led to an “explosion” in parcel volumes and he commended the way Australia Post has “risen to this challenge”.

“With some of the rise in internet shopping bound to be a permanent feature of our logistics landscape, it is pleasing this new facility will … assist Australia Post in meeting the expectations of its millions of customers,” he said.

In early 2022, 250 delivery vans will begin operating from the Botany site, servicing customers in more than 30 postcodes in eastern Sydney.

The site will be one of Australia Post’s largest facilities in NSW. It will see the creation of 150 new local jobs.

with AAP