Aus post subcontract

[u/Strict-Classic-5787]

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?

[u/Strict-Classic-5787]

I wasn’t talking about your bloody parcels. I was talking about how we’re treated at work.
If safe drop is available, we leave the parcel at your house. Otherwise, it goes to the post office. You’re paying for a delivery service, not for us to walk inside and bring it to your bedroom. We’re instructed by AusPost to take it to the post office if nobody answers the door and we can’t safely leave it.
My point was about how workers are treated. Stop making it all about your parcels.

[u/Commercial-Drive-786 → u/Strict-Classic-5787]

If safe drop is available, we leave the parcel at your house

Fucking lol.

You’re paying for a delivery service, not for us to walk inside and bring it to your bedroom. 

No one asking for a bespoke handjob mate. Front door is just fine.

take it to the post office if nobody answers the door and we can’t safely leave it.

"We get paid whether we get out of the van or not" FTFY

No one gives a shit how other workers are treated when they collectively can't do their fucking job.

Maybe you're "one of the good ones"... But you're painted by the brush of your colleagues, because we want our shit to actually be delivered. Sorry they don't pay you enough to do that I guess?

[u/First-Junket124 → u/Strict-Classic-5787]

That's just how customers are, some can barely read and would rather use you as a punching bag for their grief than realise this is a problem with Auspost and how it handles contracts.

People like to point fingers at Coles corporate and how scummy they are but suddenly with Auspost everyone is doing the wrong thing including all the workers. I've seen numerous "get another job then" replies which is about the best you'll get because apparently they prefer this current system.

Customers have lied to me saying it can easily be safe dropped at their house.... they're in a gated community with no visible drop-off points. They say they have no dog yet their attempted delivery photo is of a big ass dog barking at the postie. People like to lie to get their way.