Does it Matter

If you’re perusing the selection of mailboxes at your local hardware store you will soon see that more than 70% of them do not comply to the Australia Post requirements or to Australian Standards. Does it matter? Not really, that is unless you continually get mail which is too large for your mailbox and the postie gets frustrated. In that case you will likely receive a note to pick up your mail from the Post Office. And even then when you pick up that “oversized mail” you will generally find it folded in half with one of those big red elastic bands around it anyway :-)

Mailbox Specifications

Yes, there is an Australian Standard for mailboxes, AS NZS 4253:1994 Mailboxes (see a copy here) and it calls for mail box sizes to be based on taking A4 size mail in either a Portrait or Landscape Fashion. Measurement-wise this means either 240mm wide x 330mm deep, or 330mm wide x 240mm deep.

Australia Post has only included the Portrait orientation sizing in their guidelines as they call for all mailboxes to have an internal depth of at least 330mm. You can safely ignore this, especially if your width is 330mm or greater.

The Australian Standards also specify that the mail slot should not exceed 30mm in height. This is for security purposes and to stop small hands form entering.

 

What Else Does Australia Post Say

      (Please disregard Australia Post’s comments in relation to mailbox sizes)