Australians who miss the postie this Christmas won’t need to visit a collection depot to retrieve their parcel, with Australia Post’s new service re-routing it to a nearby secure locker instead.

Unveiled in time for the Christmas rush, the taxpayer owned postie announced on Friday that lockers located within a one kilometre radius will now be utilised for missed holiday deliveries.

Australia Post general manager of parcel, post and ecommerce Gary Starr said the lockers will come in handy as online shopping ramps up ahead of Christmas, with both the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping holidays now just around the corner.

“We know customers are very busy towards the end of the year, so Australia Post is supporting them through more convenient delivery options,” he said on Friday.

“Collecting missed deliveries from nearby Parcel Lockers means customers who aren’t home for their delivery and can’t make it to the Post Office can still collect their parcels.”

Australia Post delivered a whopping 52 million parcels last December and is expecting what Starr described as “another huge festive season” in 2023, driven by the growing popularity of shopping holidays in late November.

Consumers are also predicted to be a bit more discerning this year amid cost of living pressures, with retail experts expecting that discounting will become more prevalent over the holiday period as retailers compete with each other over stretched household budgets.

How the locker service works

So, how does the locker service work?

It will be available to customers who have signed up for a MyPost account, use the Australia Post mobile application and have linked their mobile phone number to their parcel delivery.

The locker service itself will be free, just like collecting a parcel at a depot currently doesn’t cost anything on top of any existing delivery fees you’ve already paid at checkout with your retailer.

There are more than 700 parcel locker locations across Australia and customers will be able to choose which locker is better for them, whether that’s one near their work address or home.

More than six million parcels have already been delivered to lockers over the past year, while 1.3 million Australians have already registered for the service, Australia Post revealed on Friday.

The key benefit of the locker service is the flexibility of delivery location and also their relative proximity to most addresses across the nation, with post office depots being more scarce.

You also wont need to wait in line or stand around while an Australia Post agent at a depot attempts to find your parcel, which is an experience millions of Australians are familiar with.

But those sending or receiving Christmas gifts should be careful; there are set deadlines in place to ensure deliveries arrive by December 25 and waiting until too late could cost you dearly.

Australia Post reiterated on Friday that parcels should be sent by Monday December 18 to give them the “best chance of arriving on time”, or by Thursday 21 December if sent by Express Post.

That’s for domestic mail, there are separate deadlines for international deliveries that begin in November and are covered in more detail here.