Leslie Massey
Postcodes in Australia were introduced in 1967 by the Postmaster-General's Department to efficiently sort and route mail. They consist of four digits and are placed at the end of an address before the country name. Postcodes in Western Australia are no different, and they range from 0200 for the Australian National University to 9944 for Cannonvale, Queensland.
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What You'll Learn
Postcodes in Australia have four digits
The postcodes are used to sort and route mail more efficiently. They are often linked to a specific area, such as 6160, which belongs to Fremantle, Western Australia. However, they can also cover multiple locations, such as 2570, which is shared by twenty-two towns and suburbs around Camden, New South Wales.
The initial digits of postcodes do not correspond to geographical boundaries, despite popular belief. Over time, these initial digits have deviated from the radio system. For example, the 8000 series refers to special addresses in Victoria. Major towns and cities often have "0" as the last numeral or last two numerals, such as Rockhampton, Queensland (4700) and Ballarat, Victoria (3350).
Australia Post provides booklets with the postcodes, which are available at post offices or online. Envelopes and postcards in Australia often have four boxes printed in orange at the bottom right for the postcode, enabling optical character recognition software to be used in mail sorting machines.
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Australian postcodes range from 0200 to 9944
Postcodes in Australia were introduced in 1967 by the Postmaster-General's Department to efficiently sort and route mail. They consist of four digits, are placed at the end of the address before the country name, and are often linked with one area. The first digit usually shows the state or territory, and the second numeral usually shows a region within the state. However, the initial digit of each postcode was derived from the previously existing numerical prefixes of Australian radio call signs, which were based on state/territory borders. Over time, the initial digits of postcodes have deviated from the radio system. For example, the 8000 series refers to special addresses in Victoria.
Postcodes with larger populations may cover a broader geographic area. For example, postcode 4350 serves around 100,000 people in Toowoomba and the surrounding area. In contrast, some postcodes cover much smaller populations, even in urban areas. For example, the 3221 postcode of the Geelong Mail Centre includes twenty places around Geelong with very few people, so mail for these places is not fully sorted until it reaches Geelong.
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Postcodes were introduced in 1967
Postcodes in Western Australia range from 6000 to 6797. The postcode for the Christmas Islands is 6798, 6799 for the Cocos Islands, and 6999 for other parts of Western Australia.
Postcodes were introduced in Western Australia in 1967 by the Postmaster-General's Department (PMG). The 4-digit numeric postcode system was introduced alongside the country's first mechanised mail processing centre. The postcodes were brought in to replace earlier postal sorting systems, such as Melbourne's alphanumeric codes (e.g. N3, E5).
The introduction of postcodes in Australia coincided with the introduction of a large-scale mechanical mail sorting system, starting with the Sydney GPO. The initial digit of each postcode was taken from the previously existing numerical prefixes of Australian radio call signs, which were based on state/territory borders.
By 1968, 75% of mail was using postcodes, and post office-preferred-size envelopes were introduced. These envelopes had four boxes printed in orange at the bottom right for the postcode, which were used to assist with the automated sorting of mail that had been addressed by hand.
Postcode squares were introduced in June 1990 to enable Australia Post to use optical character recognition (OCR) software in its mail sorting machines to automatically and more quickly sort mail by postcodes.
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Some towns have two postcodes
Postcodes in Australia were introduced in 1967 to efficiently sort and route mail. They consist of four digits and are placed at the end of the address before the country.
Some towns and suburbs in Australia have two postcodes. One is for street deliveries, and the other is for post office boxes. For example, a street address in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta would have a different postcode than a post office box in the same area.
Additionally, some large businesses, government departments, and institutions receiving high volumes of mail had their own postcodes as Large Volume Receivers (LVRs). However, Australia Post has been progressively discontinuing the LVR program since 2006.
It is worth noting that some towns may share a postcode with multiple neighbouring towns or suburbs. This can make it challenging to determine the exact location when only a partial address is provided. This issue is not unique to Western Australia and is a result of the limited number of four-digit postcode combinations available.
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Postcodes are used to sort and route mail
Postcodes in Western Australia, as in the rest of the country, are integral to sorting and routing mail efficiently. Introduced in 1967, Australian postcodes initially coincided with the introduction of a large-scale mechanical mail sorting system. Each postcode has four digits, placed at the end of the address before the country name.
The first two digits of a postcode often represent the state or territory, with the exception of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which is embedded in New South Wales (NSW). The first digit was originally copied from the previously existing numerical prefixes of Australian radio call signs, based on state/territory borders. However, over time, these initial digits deviated from the radio system. For example, the 8000 series now refers to special addresses in Victoria.
Postcodes are often linked to a specific area, such as 6160 belonging solely to Fremantle, Western Australia. However, some postcodes cover multiple places, especially in country areas. For instance, the postcode 2570 covers twenty-two towns and suburbs around Camden, New South Wales. Some postcodes serve large populations, like 4350 for the City of Toowoomba and the surrounding area, which has around 100,000 people. In contrast, other postcodes have much smaller populations, even in urban areas.
To facilitate mail sorting, each address now gets a special sorting number, printed as an orange barcode. This barcode can be up to 12 digits long and helps the post office organise mail in the exact order of delivery. Additionally, envelopes and postcards often have four orange boxes in the bottom right corner for the postcode. These enable Australia Post to use optical character recognition software in mail sorting machines to automatically sort mail by postcode.
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