Australia Post Lost Your Parcel? Here’s How to Actually Get Compensated

The tracking says “delivered”. You were home. There’s nothing on the doorstep, nothing in the parcel locker, nothing with the neighbours. Or the parcel has been “processing at facility” for three weeks and the chatbot keeps telling you to “allow additional time”. You’ve lodged an enquiry. You’ve got a case number. Nothing has happened.

Australia Post moves billions of items a year and most arrive. But when one doesn’t, the system is built to wear you down. Here’s how to cut through it.

Your rights

• The Australian Consumer Law applies to Australia Post. It’s a business supplying a service, so the consumer guarantees in ss 60–62 (due care and skill, fit for purpose, delivered within a reasonable time) apply. Under s 64, those guarantees can’t be excluded by Australia Post’s terms and conditions.
• Australia Post’s own compensation rules. For a lost or damaged domestic parcel, Australia Post will compensate up to $100 plus a refund of postage without extra cover. If the sender bought Extra Cover, the cover amount (up to $5,000) applies. For some services, like Express Post and Registered Post, different limits apply. These are the floor, not the ceiling: the ACL can entitle you to more where their negligence caused loss.
• If you’re the buyer, the seller owes you. Under the ACL, a retailer is responsible for getting goods to you. If the parcel never arrived, you’re entitled to a replacement or refund from the seller, and it’s the seller’s job to chase the carrier. The seller can’t say “it’s Australia Post’s problem”.
• If you’re the sender, Australia Post owes you. The contract of carriage is with whoever paid the postage. That person lodges the claim.
• “Safe drop” doesn’t override your rights. If a parcel was left somewhere unsafe without your authority and stolen, that’s a delivery failure, not your loss.

What to do right now

1. Lodge a formal enquiry with the tracking number. Do it online or by phone and get the reference number. Australia Post won’t consider compensation without one. Do it within the claim window: generally within 6 months for domestic items.
2. Get the proof of delivery. Ask for the GPS delivery scan location and any photo taken by the driver. If the “delivered” scan is at the wrong address or a different street, you have your case.
3. Value the loss properly. Receipts for the contents, the postage receipt, and any consequential loss (for example, you had to re-buy the item at a higher price or lost a sale). Under the ACL you can claim losses that were reasonably foreseeable.
4. If you bought the item, put the seller on notice too. Email: “The item has not arrived. Under the Australian Consumer Law I require a replacement or full refund within 7 days.” Don’t let them send you off to Australia Post.
5. Send a Letter of Demand. Once the enquiry has stalled or the compensation offered doesn’t cover the loss, a formal letter to Australia Post (or the seller) citing the ACL guarantees, quantifying the claim, and giving 14 days before you go to the Postal Industry Ombudsman and the civil tribunal, moves the file to a person with authority.
6. Escalate to the Postal Industry Ombudsman. Free, and it has jurisdiction over Australia Post.

“Delivered” but not delivered: what’s really going on

Most “delivered but missing” cases fall into three groups. The driver scanned it as delivered before or after actually leaving it (so it’s at a neighbour’s, a nearby unit, or still in the van). It was safe-dropped somewhere visible and taken. Or it was mis-delivered to the wrong address entirely. In all three, Australia Post has a duty to investigate, and the GPS scan and driver photo are the evidence that decides it. Ask for them explicitly and put the request in writing. If they refuse to provide them, tell the Ombudsman.

Parcel lockers and post offices: if the tracking shows collection from a locker or counter you never visited, ask for the collection record and any CCTV. That’s a security incident and should be escalated immediately.

What a claim actually needs

Australia Post assesses compensation on paper, so the paperwork decides it. Have ready: the tracking number; the lodgement receipt (or the seller’s proof of postage if you’re the buyer and the seller is claiming); proof of the contents’ value (a tax invoice, order confirmation or bank statement, not a guess); photos of any damage and of the packaging inside and out; and the enquiry reference number. If the item was bought second-hand, a screenshot of the listing and the payment works. Claims lodged without value evidence are paid at the $100 minimum or refused, so don’t skip this. If the seller sent it uninsured and it was worth more than $100, that’s a conversation with the seller, not Australia Post: under the ACL, the seller chose the service and carries the risk of it. And if you’re told “the sender must lodge the claim” when you’re the buyer, that’s correct for Australia Post’s process, but it doesn’t change the seller’s obligation to refund you first and claim later.

Who to complain to

First, Australia Post (online enquiry, then a formal complaint if the enquiry stalls). Then the Postal Industry Ombudsman (part of the Commonwealth Ombudsman), which handles Australia Post and StarTrack. For a seller who won’t refund, your state fair trading body and, if needed, your state’s civil tribunal (in WA, SA and Tasmania, the Magistrates Court). If the item was paid for by card and the seller won’t act, a chargeback through your bank is also available.

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