Postal address in Australia – you have to get it right

Do you know where Abbotsbury, Berala or Tempe are? Or Greenwich, Balmoral, Waterloo, San Souci and Pyrmont? No? They are suburbs of the same city that also has Bondi, Botany, Manly and The Rocks. But you won’t find the name of the city in the postal address of Australia. You write a letter to Abbotsbury NSW 2176, Berala NSW 2141 or Tempe NSW 2044. Unless you are very familiar with the postcodes of Australia you wouldn’t have a clue that you are actually writing to an address in Sydney. And the postcodes themselves also don’t give you much reference. For example, Gosford, which is about 75 km North of Sydney has the postcode 2250 while Bangor, a Sydney suburb, has the postcode 2234.

Same name, different suburbs, different state

So it pays off to know a bit about the postcodes of a postal address in Australia and where the connected suburbs approximately are. Australia’s early settlers liked to name their towns and suburbs for connections in the Old Country (Britain). Thus, Australia is sprinkled with Richmonds, Kensingtons, Windsors and Brightons. Mistaking one for the other could cost you the price of your letter or parcel never arriving or of booking your holiday accommodation in the wrong town.

Richmond

E.g. Richmond was clearly a favourite of the founding fathers – there’s one in almost every state! Just 3kms from the Melbourne CBD, Victoria’s Richmond (Postcode 3121) it’s only a short stroll from the famous old Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). NSW’s Richmond (Postcode 2753) is a little town 63kms north-west of Sydney in the greater Sydney area at the foot of the Blue Mountains and the nearby town of Windsor. Richmond (Postcode 5033) in South Australia is an inner suburb of Adelaide. There are also two Richmonds in Queensland. One is a small town in the west of the state with wide streets and big skies and the other is a suburb of Mackay.

Kensington

Kensington is another well-loved name across the country. The NSW Kensington (Postcode 2033) is located midway between the Sydney CBD and Bondi Beach. Just 4kms from Melbourne CBD, Victoria’s Kensington (Postcode 3031) is a leafy village with beautiful period houses (Victorian and Edwardian), while South Australia’s Kensington (postcode 5068) is a suburb 5kms east of Adelaide with a population of 1,769.

Manly

While Manly in Sydney might be famous, it has a lesser-known cousin in Queensland too. A beachside suburb 17 km north-east of Sydney, NSW’s Manly (Postcode 2095) has some of the most expensive houses in the country. Not surprising when you consider the beautiful sandy beaches and the fact that you can cruise across the bay to work in the CBD. The Queensland Manly (Postcode 4179) is 19kms east of the Brisbane CBD and features Australia’s biggest boat harbour.

Brighton

Just like the original in the United Kingdom, Australia’s Brightons are all located by the water. Victoria’s Brighton (Postcode 3186) is a bayside suburb 11kms from the Melbourne CBD while South Australia’s Brighton (Postcode 5048) is a coastal suburb with a great beach and famous jetty. 19kms from Brisbane CBD, Queensland’s Brighton (Postcode 4017) is a sleepy seaside suburb with cycling tracks, wetlands and paths.

Postcodes by state

You might have noticed, that the postcodes of Sydney all start with a “2” while Brisbane postcodes starts with “4”. The first one or two numbers usually show the state or territory that the postcode belongs to:

New South Wales (NSW)	2000—2599 2619—2899 2921—2999
Australian Capital Territory (ACT)	2600—2618 2900—2920
Victoria	3000—3999
Queensland	4000—4999
South Australia	5000—5799
Western Australia	6000—6797
Tasmania	7000—7799
Northern Territory	0800—0899

While the first number of a postcode usually shows the state or territory, the second number normally shows a region within the state. However, postcodes with the same second number are not always next to each other. For example, postcodes in the range 2200–2299 are split between the southern suburbs of Sydney and the Central Coast and Lake Macquarie regions of New South Wales. Postcodes with a second number of “0” or “1” are almost always located within the metropolitan area of the state’s capital city.

Postcode-system can be complex

Postcodes in Australia can be quite complex, especially in country areas. E.g. 2570 belongs to twenty-two towns and suburbs around Camden, New South Wales, and all have different names (BELIMBLA PARK 2570, CAMDEN 2570, CAWDOR 2570, GLENMORE 2570, ORANGEVILLE 2570, WEROMBI 2570 etc. etc.). Some postcodes cover large populations (e.g., postcode 4350 serving some 100,000 people in Toowoomba and the surrounding area) while other postcodes comprise only a very small population. And some places do not have a postcode at all. These are typically remote areas with little or no population, e.g. Wyuna in Queensland does not have a postcode.

The correct address number and street is essential

Now we learned that using the correct postcode in combination with the matching state or territory in Australia is essential. But equally important is the right street address which is the house or building number followed by the name of the street. If you live in an apartment building you have to add the unit/letter-box number followed by a slash before the street number. For example “217/3 Smith Street”.

A complete postal address in Australia requires the name, an address number, a road name, a locality (suburb) name and a state or territory name:

Recipient’s name	Bruce Smith
address number and road/street name	867 Main Street
Suburb, State Abbreviation, Postcode	Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102

Since it is unusual in Australia to put your name on the letter box or anywhere else on your property, Australia Post (and other delivery services) won’t have a clue who actually lives there. So if there is not the correct street address on the mailing it won’t reach you. Furthermore, it will end up in a wrong letterbox. Since we moved to Australia we have received a lot of mail for people totally unknown to us. Or for people who once lived at our address and had their mail only forwarded for 3 months, since forwarding mail with Australia Post is really expensive. In addition, some of that mail seemed to be important i.e. from financial institutions, insurances and government departments.

And such mail often doesn’t get returned to the sender and simply ends up in the bin.

So make sure that your postal address in Australia is 100% correct. In addition, you can check online with Australia Post, if your address combination does exist.

The system of house numbering

The system of numbering the houses in Australia follows the Australia/New Zealand standard (AS/NZS 4819:2011) for Rural & Urban Addressing. It calls for lots and buildings on newly created streets to be assigned odd numbers (on the left) and even numbers (on the right) when facing in the direction of increasing numbers (the European system).

The rural addressing numbers are generally based on a distance from the starting point – usually a road intersection – with odd numbers on the left and even numbers on the right. For example the address “435 Logan Road” will be 4.35 km from the starting point of the road or an intersection with a major road. This system has the advantage that it is readily locatable by emergency service responders and service delivery providers.