What’s changing
Merchants must capture either an accurate email address or Australian mobile number for all Australia Post parcels*. This ensures parcels are correctly linked to recipients and notifications can be sent for delivery and secure collection from Parcel Lockers. This includes street addressed parcels which can’t be delivered, and we take to a parcel locker for convenient collection. This needs to be done by 4th August 2026.
*Includes: Parcel Post, Express Post, Metro, and On Demand, sent via eParcel or MyPost Business. Recommended but not mandatory for StarTrack Premium, Fixed Price Premium, Startrack Express, or On Demand with ID, and not required for eParcel Returns.
What happens from Tuesday 4 August
Once this change goes live, the provision of recipient contact details will be mandatory for most Australia Post parcel delivery services (including Parcel Post, Express Post, Metro, and On Demand) when sent by eParcel Contract merchants and customers using MyPost Business. You will need to provide an accurate recipient Australian mobile or email address when manifesting your parcels.
If you don't provide an accurate recipient email or Australian mobile, you may not be able to submit a manifest or create a consignment and in some instances, you will not be able to print a label or pay for postage. For eParcel customers, as per your existing Service Agreement, if you send an unmanifested parcel, you may become liable for unmanifested parcel charges.
Why we need recipient details
The provision of an accurate recipient email or Australian mobile number for domestic manifested shipments via eParcel and MyPost Business allows us to notify all recipients, when required, that their parcel can be collected from a Parcel Locker or Post Office.
If a parcel is addressed to a Parcel Locker and we don't have an accurate email address or mobile, we're unable to notify the recipient and the parcel will be redirected to a Post Office for collection. Parcels that are not collected within 10 business days will be
Returned to Sender, at the sender's expense.
What does it mean for my customers if we don’t capture their accurate email or Australian mobile number?
If you do not capture an accurate receiver email address or Australian mobile number, your customers may have a poor experience due to lack of tracking updates and notifications, possible delivery delays or parcels remaining uncollected. If a parcel is addressed to a Parcel Locker, and we don’t have an accurate email address or mobile, we’re unable to notify the receiver, the parcel will be redirected to a Post Office for collection, and parcels that are not collected from the Post Office within 10 business days will be returned to sender, at the sender’s expense.
Simpler locker addresses
New address formats are being introduced to make Parcel Locker and Post Office locations easier for customers to find, remember and enter at checkout. This also improves compatibility with address search and validation tools.
New Parcel Locker and Parcel Collect addresses will be progressively available to use in the manifest and to label parcels from early August 2026.
How will I receive the new Parcel Locker and Parcel Collect addresses?
If you use an address validation service through an Address Matching Approval System (AMAS) provider, the updated Parcel Locker and Parcel Collect addresses will be made available through that provider from early August 2026. To ensure you have the latest address data so your customers can select the new addresses when placing an order online, please check with your AMAS provider.
Sending Platforms changes
If I use MyPost Business or Parcel Send, what will I see in my system if I lodge parcels without a mobile or email address?
If you use MyPost Business or Parcel Send, you will see an error message if a mobile or email address is not provided, or the mobile number is not presented in an Australian mobile format.
You will be unable to save the shipment or print labels.
If you upload a CSV file with missing or invalid contact data, the system will identify the row number with the error. Follow the relevant help & support process to fix the error.
- MPB CSV help & support
- Parcel Send CSV help & support
If I use eParcel web, what will I see in my system, if I lodge parcels without a mobile or email address?
If you use eParcel web, you will see an error message if a mobile or email address is not provided, or either the mobile number is not Australian mobile format or the email is not in a required format. You will be unable to create a consignment without a mobile or email address.
Customers who directly integrate with our APIs
· API testbed and Developer Centre
o Making the receiver contact details mandatory requires a change to our Shipping & Tracking APIs.
o For technical details about these changes, refer to the Developer Centre.
o These changes are live in the API testbed.
· Notifications opt-out
o In your manifests, you will also have the ability to opt out recipients from receiving Australia Post notifications on a consignment-by-consignment basis. To implement the opt out of notifications use the “email_tracking_enabled” and “mobile_tracking_enabled” fields specifying “false” when calling the Create Shipment, Update Shipment or Create Order including Shipments API. However, if this feature is enabled, recipients who are signed up for notifications via MyPost will continue to receive them, according to their preferences. Recipients will continue to receive essential notifications (via email or SMS), such as ‘Awaiting collection’ or ‘Cannot be delivered,’ along with any other messages directly related to the handling and delivery of their items.
o You can also find out how to implement the notifications ‘opt out’ function in the Developer Centre.
· Information about shipment workflows
If I am directly integrated with Australia Post, what will I see if I lodge parcels without a mobile or email address?
If you are directly integrated with Australia Post through our Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) then it will return the error message “Receiver phone number or email must be provided” if relevant receiver details are not provided.
If a mobile number fails the Australian format validation rules, then the API will return the error message “Phone entered is an invalid Australian mobile number”.
If an email address fails the validation rules, then the API will return either error message “Email entered is invalid” or “Email address longer than 50 characters”.
There are different outcomes depending on how you create your labels.
o If you source shipping labels directly from our API, then without accurate email or Australian mobile you will be unable to create shipment or print labels for the impacted order and you’ll need to resolve the error.
o If you generate your own shipping labels but you do this progressively and create shipments throughout the day, you can print a label but cannot create the corresponding shipment. If this shipment is lodged into our delivery network, it will travel as unmanifested, and if unresolved you may incur an unmanifested fee.
o If you generate your own shipping labels and you send your manifest data in bulk, then if any of those shipments at the end of the day are missing either receiver email or Australian mobile, then the entire manifest will fail and none of the shipments for that day will be created or manifested. Your freight will most likely be collected regardless of whether you have manifested the shipments. If unresolved, you may incur unmanifested fees for all shipments in the rejected manifest.
What happens if a shipment is unmanifested?
If a shipment is unmanifested and the issues are not resolved and resubmitted, then you will receive a unmanifested notice from Australia Post on the third Sunday of the month. When you receive that notification, you have five days to fix and resubmit the manifest before the unmanifested fee applies.
General FAQs
Are email or Australian mobile details only required if parcels are sent to a Parcel Locker or Post Office?
No. If you send domestic parcels using an Australia Post platform (such as MyPost Business, Parcel Send, or eParcel Web, or Australia Post APIs) or through an eCommerce partner (like Shippit, Depop, eBay, or other marketplaces), you must provide the receiver’s valid Australian mobile number or email address for every parcel.
However, if you send a parcel by paying over the counter at a Post Office, then receiver mobile or email details are only required when the parcel is addressed to a Parcel Locker or for collection at a Post Office.
What happens to a parcel if receiver email addresses or mobile numbers are not supplied, or are inaccurate?
In instances where a parcel is addressed to a Parcel Locker and we are unable to notify a receiver (because their mobile or email was either incorrect or not provided), the parcel will be sent to the nearest Post Office for collection. The customer has 10 business days to collect the delivery. After this time, deliveries will be returned to sender, at the sender’s expense.
Which products require accurate email addresses or mobile numbers?
Valid receiver email or mobile must be provided when using Parcel Post, Express Post, Metro or On Demand. Providing a receiver’s email or mobile number is highly recommended, but not mandatory for StarTrack Premium, Fixed Price Premium, StarTrack Express, and eParcel Returns.
What is the required mobile phone format?
Only Australian formatted mobile numbers are accepted. If both an email address and mobile number are provided, both must pass the validation rules (i.e. a landline, even with a correct email address will cause an error).
The table below lists the acceptable mobile number formats.
What is the required email format?
The email address must follow a valid email format, such as name@example.com. It must include an “@” symbol and a valid domain, such as @example.com. The address should not contain spaces or invalid characters, and only the format is checked during validation—not whether the inbox exists.
What happens if both email address and mobile number is provided - but the phone number isn’t in Australian mobile format?
In this situation the phone number will fail validation and the lodgement will be rejected. If both an email and phone number are provided, then both must pass the validation rules (i.e. a landline will cause an error)
Updates to T&Cs
[link to T&Cs page on auspost.com.au]
We're here to help
If you'd like to discuss these changes and how they specifically apply to you as a sender, please contact your Account Manager or call us on 13 11 18, Monday to Friday, 8am – 6pm (AEST).
For technical queries regarding changes to the Shipping & Tracking APIs, please contact the relevant team below:
· MyPost Business: contact our MPB Partner Support Team
· Contract Services Integration Support team (eParcel & StarTrack): auspost.com.au/lodgement-techsupport