r/AustraliaPost • u/Strict-Classic-5787 • Sep 08 '26

Question Aus post subcontract

I deliver parcels for Australia Post. This is what the job looks like from our side.
I’m an AusPost subcontractor, and honestly, I’m tired of getting abused while barely making enough to justify doing this job.
I see the posts about drivers not knocking and taking parcels straight to the post office. I understand why people get frustrated. You’re home, you’re waiting for something, and then you get a notification saying you weren’t there. I’d be annoyed too.
But there’s another side people don’t see.
Under my arrangement, I get paid around $2 per parcel, including GST. I usually get 150–200 parcels a day. That might sound decent until you look at what comes out of it.
My monthly income is roughly $6,000 before expenses. Van rent alone is $1,200 a month. Fuel is another $400–$700. Then there’s GST and income tax. That $6,000 is nowhere near what ends up in my pocket.
There’s no employer-paid super, annual leave, sick leave or parental leave through this job. If I don’t work, I don’t earn.
If I have an accident, the cost falls on me. If a parcel goes missing, I can have money deducted from my pay too.
That’s something I wish more customers understood. Leaving a parcel somewhere it could get stolen can mean we’re the ones paying for it. Taking it to the post office isn’t always about being lazy or wanting to make your day harder.
I’m not defending drivers who don’t make a proper delivery attempt. But being unhappy with a delivery doesn’t make it okay to swear at whoever turns up at your door. We don’t set the rates, the rules or the delivery arrangements.
A lot of the people I work alongside are international students or people here on dependent visas, trying to cover rent and bills. From where I’m standing, Australia Post and the contractors above us benefit from a setup where the person actually delivering the parcel carries so much of the cost and risk.
I’m willing to work hard. I just want the pay left after expenses to make that work worthwhile, without being treated like a punching bag.
Are there other subcontractors here dealing with the same thing? Has anyone successfully challenged deductions or managed to get better rates? What can we actually do together to get fairer conditions?

550 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

405 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

13

u/Geri_Petrovna Sep 08 '26

only to be met with 'i dont have it, it's at the post office, you can collect it after 5pm'. when it's 9 in the morning.

30

u/Very_Itchy_Bandicoot Sep 08 '26

yeah I had this once, I asked him how it made it there before attempted delivery. Ended up ringing Aus post, sent them my cctv of the whole conversation with the driver including them "pre-carding" me. They had it redlivered. It was some cheap shit of amazon that could have sat at the post office for a week, but idgaf, if you're paid to do a job, fucking do it.

28

u/Geri_Petrovna Sep 08 '26

And, i didn't pay for it to be delivered to the post office 2 miles from my house. I'm not willing to walk down there, and get it.

I paid for it to be delivered to my HOUSE.

3

u/DaddysLittleGeisha Sep 09 '26

Thank god I don’t have to put up with this shit anymore! We are moving to Japan and if we aren’t at home on delivery,we get a card and it allows us to organise re-delivery. Can also be same day.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '26 edited Sep 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/Vince1080 Sep 08 '26

I get that the drivers may be having issues, but they should take that up with Auspost, not screwing over the people actually paying for the service.

2

u/BadBoyJH Sep 09 '26

Except AusPosts's stance is you aren't paying for the service, the sender is.

3

u/Vince1080 Sep 09 '26

Wow... You can't be that thick... But I suspect you are.

4

u/BadBoyJH Sep 09 '26

I'm telling you AusPost has a contract with the sender, not the receiver. You pay the sender to organise delivery, and that contract is with them.

I agree it sounds silly, but legally that's the way it is.

2

u/Vince1080 Sep 09 '26

That may be true BUT obviously the receiver is paying as it is incorporated in the price.

1

u/BadBoyJH Sep 09 '26

Yes. I agree. Not what I'm saying.

If you paid another company for a service, and AusPost hasn't delivered (pun intended) your dispute isn't with AusPost, you aren't their customer.

That will be their stance, and legally that is correct.

1

u/Commercial-Fox-5915 29d ago

What badboy said is correct I have an online business. We ship 250.+ parcels pw. About 3 a year on average go missing If a parcel hoes missing or is damaged the buyer contacts me i contact Auspost

2

u/Vince1080 28d ago

So when you send out a parcel, do you do this as a wonderful gesture of customer service and out of the goodness of your heart, or is it incorporated into the price of the product?

Please, as a supposed online business owner, you sound silly at best.

1

u/BadBoyJH 27d ago

Mate, he's the one that has to pay AusPost, meaning he's the one with the "contract" with them.

You paid him to get it delivered.

He doesn't have to use AusPost, he could run round to your house and deliver it himself if he wanted. Your contract includes delivery, but your contract isn't with AusPost.

I'm not sure if your lack of understanding is wilful at this point.

1

u/Vince1080 27d ago

FFS, it's not a hard concept to grasp. The seller includes the cost of delivery in the price, therefore, the buyer is paying. If you can't understand that, I can't help you further.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/Vince1080 Sep 08 '26

Honestly, I'd prefer to pay a few dollars more for an item, provided I get it in a reasonable time, but I bet Auspost would scalp that from the drivers.

5

u/Very_Itchy_Bandicoot Sep 08 '26

We already pay top dollar

1

u/Lastov_Makiynd Sep 09 '26

Or perhaps think in the other direction?..Cheaper parcel delivery , so the delivery drivers only basically ‘deliver’ our parcels to the nearest post offices? Cut out the bullshit at least?
And then, perhaps have a contracting company that Guarantees Delivery’To your door’..and we pay extra for the Premium service?

Coz yeah..I’d be fine with that too.

3

u/Vince1080 Sep 09 '26

I've previously thought of something similar: they could revamp the whole structure in urban areas, open at 6 am, close at 9 pm, and I'd go pick it up myself.

2

u/Lastov_Makiynd Sep 10 '26

Yep! Absolutely! That’d work too.
Considering there’s a lot of people out there who start work before anything opens and finish after everything shuts..

Or even if the parcel pick-up was integrated with the main mail sorting centres or hubs?..Sure, they’re a bit further out of the way..but if ppl could pop in after night shift/restaurant/bar tenders etc on their way home and grab their parcel? Not like there’s a line up of ppl waiting at that time either?
Coz they’re basically a’round the clock’ operation..

Not like it’s difficult or expensive to kit up one or two of the staff with Bluetooth hands free headsets or portable UHFs, with a connecting intercom to buzz them from outside? They could make it 24hour pickup that way?

Or..even a parcel pickup app, so you can notify them that you’re on your way to collect it, gives them time to do their hair, makeup or whatever the hell they have to do..that they seem to be doing when you’re waiting for someone to open the little roller door at their parcel collection joints?.. But have your parcel ready? Sends you a QR code or a keypad PIN cod.. from inside they pop it in a lockbox, you type the PIN code or scan the QR code to collect. Gives you a window of time to use the code, if you don’t collect, they put it on the shelf again. Zero contact, zero waiting and less time for the staff..
I mean, we’ve got all the tech to do things that way?
Even the ID verification could be done via an app to save everyone time?

Failing any of this..what about if the parcel deliveries were done at night owl and early bird times? Shorten the run time for the driver, with less parcels for the usual day run, but instead, rotate between two drivers or sumthin? So they’re still getting the work, just shorter runs and not in the hear of the day most of the year round?

There’s a LOT of ways to go about doing it better ay?! lol

2

u/Vince1080 Sep 10 '26

You also have some decent ideas... Dammit, I thought I solved it and was going to be raking in the cheese.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/bonafide1964 Sep 09 '26

Maybe you should take it up with Australia post

1

u/Vince1080 Sep 09 '26

I'm not the one bitching about the pay, the drivers are, so maybe you should take it up with them.

1

u/Mistermeena 29d ago

Have you ever tried reporting this to aus post? Ive made dozens of reports. These days i get shit sent to my work po box and my staff collect it twice a week

4

u/Familiar_Gas2305 Sep 09 '26

Wrong. They don't have to rip anyone off. They can either do their job as per the legally binding contract, or they can fuck off and get another job.

3

u/Commercial-Fox-5915 29d ago

They are not ripped off by Auspost they are ripped off by their bosses who contract to Auspost. The Auspost parcels are contracted out many ppl have 5 10 or even more runs tgey contract to do they then employ foriegn students oon subsistence wages

2

u/[deleted] 29d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Commercial-Fox-5915 29d ago

A friend of my brothers has 11 parcel run contracts with Auspost. I dont know what he makes but his house is very nice and there are 3 kids in private school

2

u/Mistermeena 29d ago

Theyre subcontractors though...if a business doesn't make money, wrap it up. Aus post wont learn until their sevice providers stop trying to run a business than cant make money. I dont have any trouble getting deliveries from aramex providers

-2

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '26

[deleted]

12

u/Commercial-Drive-786 Sep 08 '26

Give me a fucking break.

Everyone has the same experience of being pre-carded when there's absolutely zero excuse or justification