The impact of COVID-19 on the postal industry has resulted in a high number of complaints according to the latest quarterly update from the Commonwealth Ombudsman in his capacity as the Postal Industry Ombudsman.
In his update the Ombudsman, Michael Manthorpe said complaints to his Office about the postal service peaked last September and had gradually fallen since then.
“In the 1 October–31 December 2020 quarter, the Office received 52.6 per cent more complaints compared to the same quarter last year,” Mr Manthorpe said.
“Complaints increased by 92.8 per cent in the June 2020 quarter compared to the June quarter last year,” he said.
“Increases of 69.7 per cent in the September quarter and 52.6 per cent this quarter are positive and show that complaints are decreasing overall.”
Mr Manthorpe said that while postal complaints increased markedly last year, the figures should be viewed in the context of increased parcel deliveries and the challenges of operating logistics during COVID-19 restrictions.
The Ombudsman said Australia Post reported that December was its busiest month for parcel deliveries ever, with 52 million packages delivered, an increase of 20 per cent which took place while the Organisation needed to comply with differing COVID-19 restrictions in each State.
He said Airfreight had also been severely affected which caused a significant number of unavoidable complaints about postal delays and loss.
“The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has begun tracking changes in consumer behaviour towards online sales,” Mr Manthorpe said.
“Their findings indicate it is likely that a sustained level has been reached for online sales.”
He said it was possible that the increase in parcel deliveries seen during last year would continue and, if that occurred, postal complaints might remain higher than before as a result of the sustained increase in engagements with postal operators.
The Ombudsman’s seven-page postal industry quarterly update can be accessed at this PS News link.
