Australia Post is supporting a Victoria Police investigation into break ins and theft of mail from Post Office Boxes within the mezzanine area of the Melbourne GPO Box Room in Bourke St, Melbourne, between 6 and 17 July.
The offenders were able to force entry into a back-of-house area used for sorting mail and distributing letters into PO Boxes on three occasions, and on the fourth, left immediately when deterred by additional security measures. The offenders caused significant damage on entry into the facility, which was promptly repaired, and additional security measures were put in place after each break in.
Australia Post has advised potentially affected customers of the unlawful access to their Post Office Boxes at the GPO Box Room and apologises for the inconvenience caused by these criminal acts.
Unlike parcels, letters are not tracked, and Australia Post is unable to identify individual mail items or boxes targeted by the offenders.
Registered mail items are handled in a separate area of the Melbourne GPO Box Room facility that was not affected in the break ins.
Customers seeking to check the status of any tracked items, including Parcel Post, e-parcel, Express Post or Startrack packages are advised to check the tracking page of the Australia Post website or the AusPost App.
Australia Post has implemented a number of additional security measures, including after-hours security presence in the PO Box Room.
Plans are well underway for this facility to move to a new, nearby custom-designed facility next month.
ENDS
Media contact:
Katherine Perry, Senior Media Manager, Australia Post
M: 0411 247 629
About Australia Post:
As Australia's postal service for more than 215 years, we're at the heart of every community. Last financial year we delivered more than 2.3 billion items to 12.7 million delivery points. Australia Post has one of the largest retail networks nationally, with more than 4,000 Post Offices. Australia Post employs people of all ages, genders, and abilities in our extended workforce of more than 64,000 team members, reflective of the diverse communities we operate in. We are proud to be included in the inaugural Indigenous Employment Index with 3% of our workforce identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and we are one of the largest Australian employers to be certified as a Disability Confident Recruiter.
