Australia Post proposes raising stamps from $1.20 to $1.50

The government-owned enterprise has lodged a draft notification for the increase with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, with the proposed increase to take effect in January.

Australia Post said it is not proposing a change to the $0.60 price of concession stamps or the $0.65 price of seasonal greetings stamps. These stamps have not increased since they were launched nearly 10 years ago.

"We've made a number of changes in the past year to improve and simplify our business but, as we are entirely self-funded and receive no ongoing government funding, we need to ensure we reduce losses in our letters business," Australia Post Group CEO and managing director Paul Graham said in a statement.

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"We're committed to maintaining the letters service for communities across Australia and increasing the basic postage rate will help us continue to deliver for all Australians."

Last week, the national postal service reported a full-year earnings loss of $200.3 million for the 2022-23 financial year, including a $384.1 million loss in its letters business while the parcel delivery service proved more profitable. There was also an estimated cost of Australia Post meeting its legislated community service obligations of $442 million.

It is the first loss since 2015 and only the second since it became a self-funded government-owned enterprise in 1989. The figure for the financial year was down from $55.3 million profit in the previous year.