The Australian government is currently consulting on possible future reforms to the national postal regulatory framework.

Among the main possibilities highlighted by the Australian postal services modernisation discussion paper are:

• relaxing letter delivery frequency requirements;
• allowing Australia Post to charge higher prices for its letters services; and
• deregulating the priority letters service.

The Australian government is concerned that changes to the postal market, in particular the rapid decline in addressed letter volumes, threaten the financial sustainability of the incumbent operator (Australia Post) and limit its ability to innovate in line with evolving consumer and business needs, particularly with respect to parcels.

Most European postal and delivery markets face very similar market challenges but how are European policy makers reacting?

One of Cullen international's postal benchmarks summarises recent major changes made to modernise the universal service obligation (USO).

The benchmark shows that the main changes made in European countries are to remove services from the USO scope, such as direct and bulk mail, and parcels heavier than 10 kg. Some countries have also increased the flexibility allowed in terms of the frequency of delivery and collection, often in connection with relaxations in the required transit times for letters services.

Cullen International’s benchmarks on postal regulations show a wide range of detailed information across 17 European countries on many aspects of the regulatory framework, including on requirements covering:

• the frequency of collection and delivery;
• letter pricing;
• the location and availability of access points;
• which services are included in the USO scope; and
• the size and accessibility of the post office network.

For more information and to access the USO modernisation benchmark, please click on “Access the full content” - or on “Request Access”, in case you are not subscribed to our European Postal intelligence.