Delegates at the Western Queensland Local Government Association conference heard recently that postal services in communities in the Central Highlands Regional Council area were being impacted by the current methodology used to allocate postcodes.

They are all communities that share the 4702 postcode, which is the code Yaraka residents had and objected to.

Central Highlands CEO, Scott Mason, said the interaction of locality names and postcodes can create confusion in regional and remote areas, adding that it leads to difficulties in identifying properties for post and parcel services, resulting in community frustration, delays and other service delivery inefficiencies.

“And these people want a sense of identity,” he said. “Surely the system can be flexible enough to accommodate them.”

The council gathering resolved to work to influence the realignment of locality and postcode areas in regional and remote areas to improve consistency, by way of a review they’d like to see undertaken by a relevant federal authority.

An Australia Post spokewoman  said the organisation was open to reviewing postcodes from time to time, however will only effect a change where there are operational efficiencies to be gained in rerouting the mail.

“In evaluating changes to existing postcodes, Australia Post assesses aspects of the geographical area such as the volume of mail currently being delivered into a locality, delivery arrangements, and projected population growth,” she said.

“We also consider the impact on local communities.

“Postcodes are assigned solely to facilitate the efficient processing and delivery of mail, and correspond with the delivery centres from which mail is delivered.”

Yaraka shares the 4702 postcode with places such as Shoalwater and Gracemere, hundreds of kilometres away.

Federal Member for Maranoa, David Littleproud, has campaigned strongly with Australia Post on behalf of the community at the “end of the line” for its own mailing identity, after being approached by the Longreach Regional Council and Yaraka community members soon after being elected.

The anomaly comes from the years when Yaraka was part of the railway line that extended west from Rockhampton, and received its mail from that source.

That’s long gone but Yaraka is still feeling the effect, including being recognised as a coastal postcode when insurance companies come to calculate insurance premiums for places affected by cyclones, despite being 700 km inland.

Queensland Country Life