Australia Post has opened its first major dedicated parcel facility in South Australia, in a boost for local customers ahead of the Christmas season.
The Adelaide Parcel Facility, which came online this week, covers more than 15,000 square metres and is Australia Post's biggest ever operational investment in South Australia. It is home to Australian-first machinery able to simultaneously sort small and large parcels, which is capable of processing 8,000 parcels each hour and around 170,000 in a day.
Located at Adelaide Airport, the new state of the art facility is set to transform the state's parcel processing and delivery services heading into what is expected to be Australia Post's busiest Christmas ever.
The new site has already created more than 180 jobs, and an additional 100 casual team members will also join the South Australian team in the lead-up to Christmas.
The $31.4 million investment is part of Australia Post's overall ongoing commitment to meet growing eCommerce demand, with $450 million invested into the network last year alone.
Head of Operations SA (Deliveries) Rob Clothier said it was exciting to see the new facility come online as a surge in online shopping continues, with parcel volumes in September growing more than 7 per cent in South Australia year on year.
"We had more than 344,000 South Australian households shopping online in September, and we know how busy the festive season can be after last year's record-breaking Christmas," he said.
"This new facility will help us get those high volumes of parcels moving quickly and to people's doors faster than ever before."
The Adelaide Parcel Facility will ramp up its operations in the coming months with existing Australia Post processing sites to also continuing processing throughout the Christmas peak.
Last December was Australia Post's biggest on record, with 52 million parcels delivered around the country.
