Why were postcodes introduced in australia

There are exceptions; for instance, the major town of Ipswich, Queensland has the postcode , while Goodna , a relatively unimportant suburb of Ipswich, is allocated Postcode Squares Post Office Preferred envelopes sold in Australia contain four squares in the bottom right corner of the front of the envelope.

These squares, referred to by Australia Post as "Postcode Squares", contain the destination postcode for hand-addressed mail. This is for the purpose of Australia Post's automated mail-sorting equipment, which uses optical character recognition software.

Postcode Squares were introduced in the s. Australia Post recommends that Postcode Squares should not be used for machine-addressed mail, or mail destined overseas. Other uses Since their introduction, many organisations other than Australia Post have used postcodes in their operations.

Insurance companies often use postcodes when calculating car and house insurance premiums. The bus stop number is six digits, the first four being the postcode, plus two extra digits. Mechanised sorting To improve the efficiency of mechanised sorting, each address now has a sorting number which is printed on the letter as an orange coloured barcode.

This number might be 12 digits long. This system enables the delivery officer to place items in delivery order. List of postcodes in Western Australia — Postcodes are used by Australia Post to identify postal districts in Australia. Postcodes within WA are organised by district. List of postcodes in the Australian Capital Territory — Postcodes are used by Australia Post to identify postal districts in Australia. Queensland to to Australian Capital Territory to to to The current postcode listing features 15, place names.

Australia Post acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we operate, live and gather as employees, and recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging. Skip to content Skip to primary navigation. Collectables Articles Postcodes turn 50! Postcodes turn 50! Postcodes today During the past 50 years, additional postcode ranges have been allocated for post office box installations, Large Volume Receivers those who receive large amounts of mail and other special uses, such as competitions.

Share this article. Join the Collecting Community. Postcode changes are implemented from a specified date but we ensure that either postcode can be recognised for a limited period without reducing service to customers.

Postcodes remain at all times the property of Australia Post and shall not be reproduced without Australia Post's permission. Australia Post grants limited, revocable, non-exclusive licence to download and use Postcodes for the sole purpose of non-commercial reference.

Other than the use expressly permitted above, other organisations are expressly forbidden to download, copy or use all or any Postcodes for any of the following purposes:. If you have any questions about how we allocate postcodes, call our postcode enquiry service on 13 13 Australia Post acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we operate, live and gather as employees, and recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community.

We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging. Delays may be experienced. Dismiss alert.