Pictured: Queenstown Post Office in Tasmania, built before 1939

1809 - Australia’s first postmaster, Isaac Nichols was appointed. He worked from his home, Australia’s first post office in Circular Quay, Sydney, NSW.

1828 - Australia’s first postman commenced deliveries in Sydney. First contract mail service was established. Mail transported on horseback or coach from Sydney to areas including Penrith, Parramatta, Liverpool, Windsor, Campbelltown, Newcastle and Bathhurst.

1831 - Twopenny Post and street posting boxes introduced in Sydney. Postmen issued with a red coat and black top hat.

1838 -  Embossed covers, the world’s first pre-paid postage, introduced by James Raymond, NSW Postmaster General. Overland mail service between Sydney and Melbourne established. Mrs Rutledge, Australia’s first postmistress, appointed to Cassilis Post Office in NSW.

1841 - The first letter carrier (postie) was appointed in Melbourne. He was given a handbell an a leather bag with two pockets – one for paid and one for unpaid letters. He wore a red cloth coat with brass buttons and a black beaver or silk top hat.

1849 - ‘Sydney Views’ the worlds first pictorial postage stamp available in NSW. That was nine years after Great Britain became the first nation to officially issue a pre-paid stamp – the ‘Penny Black’. Stamps were then issued by Victoria in 1851, Tasmania in 1853, Western Australia in 1854, South Australia in 1855 and Queensland in 1860.

1852 - Steamship ‘Chusan' commenced mail service between Australia and Britain.

1865 - Travelling Post Office (TPO) attached to trains introduced in Victoria. They allowed mail to be sorted in transit, speeding up delivery to country areas. TPO commenced in the other Australian colonies during the 1870s. The last TPO was withdrawn in 1985.

1875 - Postcards first issued for sale in Australia.

1891 - Bicycles first used by postmen in Warwick, Queensland.

1901 - The Federation of the Australian colonies on 1901 had a profound effect on postal services. It paved the way for a nationally integrated system of collection and delivery. Postmaster General’s Department (PMG) was established. This officially handed control of posts and telegraphs to the Commonwealth of Australia, ending the era of the Colonial Post Office.

1914 - Pilot Maurice Guillaux carried Australia’s first domestic air-mail between Melbourne and Sydney – the longest airmail flight in the world.

1919 - First overseas airmail was carried between England and Australia by aviators Ross and Keith Smith. A regular service was not established until 1934.

1935 - First airmail flight between Adelaide and Darwin piloted by John Chapman and Bruce Cowan.

1967 - Four digit postcodes allocated to every Australian suburb, this allowed for the electronic sorting of mail.

1975 - On July 1, Postmaster General’s Department split into two forming the Australian Postal Commission (trading as Australia Post) and the Australian Telecommunications Commission (Telecom Australia, now Telstra). Postal Services Act was established.

1989 - Legislation passed establishing Australia Post as a Government Business Enterprise, a Corporation with a board of directors accountable to the Federal Government. The Corporation pays the full range of Government taxes and charges and returns a dividend to the Federal Government.

1994 - The Federal Government reduced Australia Post’s monopoly and opened postal services up to further competition. This included reducing the weight protection for domestic standard letters. The standard letter weight Australia Post could deliver was halved to 250 grams (from 500 grams). Competitors could now deliver standard letters weighing over 250 grams.

1999 - State-of-the-art mega mail centres opened in NSW and Victoria. The Dandenong Letters Centre and the Sydney West Letters Facility introduced world-leading technology. To find out more go to the Technology & the Future section. (hyperlink)