Australia Post Guide

Australia Post, the leading postal service in Australia, offers a wide range of domestic and international shipping solutions. Known for its reliability and extensive network, Australia Post caters to business and personal shipping needs, ensuring timely delivery across Australia and beyond.

This guide includes detailed information on utilizing Australia Post shipping with the EasyPost API, focusing on account setup, rates, label creation, manifests, tracking, and more.

Sign up for an EasyPost account to obtain a Test and Production API key. See Authentication and Key Management for more information.

Upon sign-up with EasyPost, users gain immediate access to Default Carrier Accounts, which can be enabled directly from the Dashboard. For additional carriers, EasyPost supports a Bring Your Own Account (BYOA) option. This requires users to register directly with the respective carrier.

1. Contact Australia Post to request a shipper account. A representative will be in touch for additional details regarding the account.

2. Inform Australia Post about using EasyPost’s API for label purchases.

3. Acquire rates and align any additional shipping needs.

4. Obtain the following account credentials from Australia Post:

   1. Australia Post Account Number
   2. Australia Post API Key
   3. Australia Post Secret Key
   4. Print as you go checkbox

5. Input carrier-specific credentials within the EasyPost Carrier Account Dashboard for comprehensive rate access.

The API structure specified by EasyPost can also be used to add the Australia Post carrier shipper account.

curl -X POST https://api.easypost.com/v2/carrier_accounts \
  -u "$EASYPOST_API_KEY": \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "type": "AustraliaPostAccount",
  "description": "AustraliaPostAccount",
  "carrier_account": {
    "credentials": {
      "account_number": "VALUE",
      "api_key": "VALUE",
      "api_secret": "VALUE",
      "print_as_you_go": "VALUE"
    },
    "test_credentials": {
      "account_number": "VALUE",
      "api_key": "VALUE",
      "api_secret": "VALUE",
      "print_as_you_go": "VALUE"
    }
  }
}'

Download an EasyPost Client Library or utilize the REST API with cURL.

Examine the EasyPost Objects section to understand the API's structure, which is critical for constructing requests and interpreting responses.

Australia Post is a Live Rating integration, enabling real-time rate retrieval for shipments created via EasyPost. Rates are guaranteed valid for a minimum of 5 minutes.

• When creating a shipment, EasyPost requests Australia Post for shipment rates specific to the user's Australia Post account.
• The rates provided are directly from Australia Post and tailored to the user's specific account details.

Billing is directly handled by Australia Post after parcel delivery. EasyPost does not participate in the billing process for Australia Post services. Contact an Australia Post representative for details.

In cases of discrepancies or incorrect rates, users are advised to contact their Australia Post account representative. The representative can then update the rates in the Australia Post database to ensure user account accuracy.

Australia Post delivers 6 days per week (Monday - Saturday). The service levels through EasyPost include:

Australia Post provides wide-reaching delivery services, covering all of Australia and offering international shipping to numerous countries, ensuring reliable delivery across both urban and remote areas.

Australia Post has several predefined packages supported by EasyPost. Predefined packages are an easy way to classify and price a package.

When using the EasyPost API, users should select a predefined package that matches the shipment's criteria and, if necessary, add weight to the request to obtain rates. The predefined package documentation provides detailed sample requests.

With EasyPost, generating shipping labels for Australia Post is the same process as generating them for any other carrier.

Review the Getting Started Guide for help generating a shipping label.

Manifesting shipments involves adding all unmanifested shipments to a batch and then manifesting the batch. Within the EasyPost API, manifests are referred to as ScanForms. For instructions on batching or creating a ScanForm, refer to Batches and ScanForms in the API Docs.

The term Order Summary in Australia Post terminology refers to what is known in EasyPost as a ScanForm. When manifesting shipments with Australia Post, a PDF Order Summary is generated. This document may differ in appearance from standard ScanForms.

The Print as you go checkbox in the Australia Post carrier account settings allow the user to control whether they get a ScanForm during the buy call or if they want to make a bulk manifest request later.

• print_as_you_go: true: The customer makes a manifest request for a shipment or batch separately from the buy call.
• print_as_you_go: false: The customer gets a manifest for each shipment during the buy call. The customer cannot manifest shipments as a batch in a manifest request because they get manifested during the buy call.

EasyPost supports return labels for domestic shipments within Australia but does not provide this service for international shipments with Australia Post.

For domestic returns, it is necessary to disable the print-as-you-go option in the carrier account settings:

print_as_you_go: false

This adjustment ensures that shipment data is manifested upon creation. Failure to disable the print-as-you-go option may result in unmanifested shipment fees for customers using Australia Post for domestic returns.

In EasyPost, labels can be voided/refunded by requesting a refund on the shipment. For guidance on refunding or voiding a shipment, refer to Refund a Shipment in the API Docs.

Australia Post offers the following label formats and sizes:

• 8.5 x 11 PDF
• 8.5 x 11 with Instructions PDF
• 4 x 6 Thermal Label ZPL
• 4 x 6 PNG, PDF

This guide does not specify handling hazardous materials with Australia Post. Shippers are advised to Contact Australia Post directly for hazmat inquiries.

Australia Post accommodates pickups based on individual agreements with customers. While regular pickups can be arranged directly with Australia Post during the account registration process, they cannot be scheduled via the EasyPost API.

EasyPost simplifies package tracking by offering two methods:

• Tracking with an existing number and carrier.
• Using a Tracker included with an EasyPost-purchased shipping label.

The service integrates webhooks for timely shipment updates. For detailed information on tracking methods, visit the Tracking Guide.

The Carrier Metadata endpoint can programmatically return information about service levels, predefined packages, supported features, and shipment options.

Use this information to quickly integrate and make educated decisions about the mix of carriers for shipping needs. Additionally, the Carrier Metadata endpoint is available to retrieve comprehensive information about all carriers on the EasyPost platform, enhancing decision-making for carrier services.

In addition to the guidance provided in our Carrier Guides, EasyPost offers support to assist with FAQs, troubleshooting issues, and inquiries related to the EasyPost platform.

Please visit the Help Center for more information.

For questions about getting started with the EasyPost API please talk to a Shipping Expert or contact our Support team.