Post journal jan feb 15 low res 2

Our peopleInside this edition:

• 2014 Applaud winners • Future Parcels Network

celebrations• Inclusive and supported

employment

Post JournalJanuary/February 2015 Issue 382

PRINT POST APPROVED100009237

What's Inside January/ February 2015

Post Journal is Australia Post’s workforce magazine. It is mailed to employees, licensees, franchisees, contractors and other interested parties. © Australia Post 2015

Features14 A day in the life of an Australia Post technician

16 Creating the solutions our customers need

17 From retail to modelling: announcing our retail corporate wardrobe competition winners

18 Congratulations to the 2014 Applaud winners

19 Inclusive and supported employment

20 Artwork dresses wall at Midland Delivery Centre

21 Neville’s sweet surprise

21 Meet Ross Langfelt

Editor: Rhiannon Telpuk

Writers: Stefani Adams, Belinda Allitt, Claire Cameron, Sharon Carroll, Jacqui Davis, Nardia Dazkiw, Clare Deehan, Daina Fahey, Mary Gillman, Krista Heath, Stephanie Hewish, Kelly Hurtz, Jeff Mollet, Amanda Murray-Johnson, Lana North, Brian O’Sullivan, Laura Schipano, Rebecca Smith, Michael Stevens, Rhiannon Telpuk, Kerry Tillison, Diane Utatao.

Graphic design: U-bahn design

Print management: Wellcom

Regulars2 In Short: News from around the business

5 Events calendar

6 Business update

What’s happening

7 Cashing in on China’s travel boom

8 Supporting consumers and businesses at home and abroad

9 Our global ecommerce partnerships helping to grow online business

10 Bumper year for online sales frenzies

11 Supporting our customers over Christmas

12 Future Parcels Network celebrations

22 Post People 1st: Post People 1st expo hits the mark

24 Community relations: Meet some Our Neighbourhood Community Grant recipients

25 What's new: Introducing our new online payment solution

26 Safety: Safety Leadership rollout in 2014

27 Stamp release: Australian Legends: The Victoria Cross

28 Postal World: Postal news from around the globe

Post Journal January/February 2015 1

While our overall network performance in December was excellent, there were some instances where customers experienced issues with parcel delivery. In many cases these delays were caused by factors outside of our control, such as delays due to severe weather. We also experienced transitional issues in November associated with our new parcel sorting equipment at our Melbourne and Sydney parcel facilities, which is unfortunate but not uncommon when introducing such significant change. Despite these challenges, I am very proud of the collaboration and tireless effort that was evident right across our network during the peak period.

The festive season was a busy time for all of us. So I hope you had the opportunity to take a well-deserved break after what was a year full of challenge and change. I want to thank you for your continued hard work and dedication. The year ahead will be another big one and I look forward to what we can achieve together in 2015.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please email [email protected].

Warm regards,

Ahmed Fahour Group Managing Director & CEO

Welcome

“I want to thank you for your continued hard work and dedication. The year ahead will be another big one and I look forward to what we can achieve together in 2015.”

Dear colleagues,

Australia Post is a business that prides itself on its people. Wherever I go, I see tremendous examples of our people looking out for their colleagues and taking care of our customers. This spirit of respect and teamwork gives me great confidence in our future – because I know that it’s an important hallmark of all high-performing companies. To me, this just makes sense. Businesses with a respectful, happy and harmonious workplace culture are obviously going to be better placed to attract and retain talented people, so they can innovate, grow and prosper.

I am conscious that my leadership team and I spend a lot of time discussing with you our changing business and the many initiatives we have developed such as the eCommerce program, MyPost Digital Mailbox and deliveries. All of these initiatives are critical to meeting the needs of our modern customers and creating a future for our business in the digital world. While these are all important initiatives, looking after our people remains our highest priority. I truly believe that our success depends on our ability to respect each other and work together to achieve our shared goals.

In this edition of Post Journal we focus on our people – the lifeblood of our business. From page 14 you can read about your colleagues from all across the business; how we reward and recognise our people through the Applaud program; our commitment to celebrating and promoting our diverse workforce through initiatives such as International Day of People with Disability; and how we will support you as we change our business through Post People 1st.

Underpinning all of this is our focus on safety. Nothing reflects the respect and value we place on our people better than the progress we have made in safety. We have now trained around 1,000 leaders across 26 sites through the Safety Leadership program to equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to demonstrate the correct safety behaviours to their people. While I am proud of our approach to safety, we need to keep working towards our goal of ensuring everyone goes home at the end of the day as healthy as when they came to work.

Over the peak period, we once again saw our people going above and beyond to serve our customers when we were under the spotlight. Leading up to Christmas, we processed millions of parcels, operated extended weekday hours and began Saturday trading to offer our customers greater convenience and choice. We also had a number of head office employees helping out their operational colleagues through the volunteering program.

mailto:[email protected]

Post Journal January/February 20152

A Taste of Harmony runs from 16 to 22 March to coincide with National Harmony Day on 21 March. We encourage you to celebrate our rich cultural diversity during this time by sharing food and stories from different cultures at your local site.

By simply organising an A Taste of Harmony event in your workplace, you could win a trip to Melbourne to dine with Guy Grossi at his restaurant, Florentino Upstairs. Event organisers will go into a draw to win a three-course meal for six people with Guy Grossi, as well as one night’s accommodation and flights from the winner’s nearest capital city.

Celebrate our diverse workforce and win!

How to enter1. Register online at www.tasteofharmony.org.au and include Australia

Post as your workplace or team name.

2. Plan your event to run between 16 and 22 March and ask workmates to bring a plate of food to share during your normal break time.

3. Email a photo of your event to [email protected] telling us what you did to celebrate the day. Entries must be submitted via email by 5pm AEDST Friday 27 March.

All Australia Post, StarTrack and subsidiary employees are eligible to apply. Full terms and conditions are available on Pogo – search for “A Taste of Harmony”. The winner will be notified on Friday 3 April by telephone.

In Short

Architecture is a team sportOur Chief Technology Office (CTO) has earned Australia Post global recognition in the 2014 Forrester/Infoworld Enterprise Architecture Awards for its innovative customer-focused approach to designing technology for our products and services.

The team received the award for its work in developing and implementing an extensive plan for computer systems and applications that we and our customers use every day.

By working closely with all parts of our business and by driving innovations focused on customer needs, the CTO team has helped to maximise the value we get from our technology, which positions us well to be “Part of Tomorrow”.

“What this means is that we have increased the ability of the business to respond more readily to customer needs,” says our Chief Technology Officer, Tien-Ti Mak.

“It’s also delivering savings by avoiding costs through reusing software applications in other areas of the enterprise, decommissioning older technology, and even reducing carbon emissions from the products we use.

“This has all been achieved through teamwork. The end goal was to have an agreed approach to technology investments and provide a better, quicker service for customers.”

Above right: Guy Grossi of Florentino Upstairs.

Left: The CTO team celebrates the win.

http://www.tasteofharmony.org.au

mailto:[email protected]

3Post Journal January/February 2015

Application form with this editionDon’t forget to fill in your MyPost Deliveries account application form included in this edition of Post Journal to personalise your parcel delivery options. It’s all about making life easier and more convenient!

In Short

Did you know...?On average, Parcel Collect customers who receive an

e-notification collect their parcel in 1.5 days, compared to 2.4 days for parcels carded to a post office

after a failed home delivery.

Making parcel collection easier Following on from the launch of MyPost Deliveries on 1 November last year, we recently introduced a new service that provides greater convenience for online shoppers and extends our digital capabilities.

MyPost account customers can receive SMS and email notifications when their parcel is awaiting collection at their nominated post office or parcel locker. Our latest e-notification service enables messages to be sent to any customer who has purchased an item online and provided their contact details to the seller who uses Australia Post.

Complementing physical parcel cards, more than two million e-notifications are now being sent per month, making it easier and faster for customers to collect their parcels. It also helps to reduce our parcel storage time and costs, and improves the safety of customers and team members as less parcels stored in outlets means fewer trip hazards.

Superstore rollout continuesA further 15 retail superstores opened their doors in 2014, including Parramatta CBD, Strawberry Hills, Bondi Junction, Chatswood (New South Wales), New Farm, Toowoomba, Fortitude Valley, Upper Mount Gravatt (Queensland), Denmark, Joondalup, Mandurah, Perth Cloisters Square (Western Australia), Ringwood, Werribee Plaza, and St Kilda Road Melbourne (Victoria). This brings our superstore network to 53 nationally.

The superstore rollout will continue throughout 2015 in areas including Alice Springs (Northern Territory), Broome (Western Australia), Bendigo, Ararat (Victoria), and Hervey Bay (Queensland). Above: The new superstore in Chatswood, New South Wales.

4 Post Journal January/February 2015

In ShortIn November we launched digital receipts across the country in corporate and licensed post offices, giving customers the option to have their receipt from any post office transaction sent directly to their digital mailbox.

This initiative is proving to be popular with customers, with an average of 600 digital receipt requests per day.

Since the national rollout on 1 November, there have been more than 15,000 requests for digital receipts, with over 28.7 per cent of people going on to activate a digital mailbox.

Join thousands of your colleagues and sign up today to receive your payslips and employee communications via your digital mailbox.

To learn more and to open your own digital mailbox, visit digitalmailbox.com.au

2015 AFL Community Camps – coming to a town near you

Digital receipts national launch

AFL club State Location and surrounds Dates

Essendon Bombers Victoria Sunbury, Riddell, Macedon Ranges February 9–10

Brisbane Lions Queensland Sunshine Coast (Maroochydore to Maryborough/Gympie) February 10–11

Richmond Tigers Victoria East Gippsland (Bairnsdale/Lakes Entrance) February 10–11

West Coast Eagles Western Australia Bunbury February 10–11

Melbourne Demons Victoria Leongatha/Wonthaggi February 11–12

Port Adelaide Power New South Wales Barossa Valley (Tanunda, Nuriootpa, Gawler, Kapunda) February 16–17

The next lot of camp dates are below*

*Dates and locations are subject to change.

More than 800 AFL players will once again take the game to regional and rural communities around Australia and New Zealand through the Australia Post AFL Community Camps.

In the lead-up to the 2015 Toyota AFL Premiership Season, players from all teams will promote social cohesion, encourage participation in Australian football, conduct community training sessions and visit schools, nursing homes and hospitals.

Our General Manager Community Relations, Andrea Pearman, says Australia Post is proud to help provide access to our national game to communities and individuals who may not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy everything the AFL and its clubs have to offer.

“The role of sport in building thriving, healthy and connected communities cannot be underestimated,” Andrea says. “It brings everyone together in a common interest – whether they are playing, watching or supporting sport, all are welcome.”

Find out when a team will visit your neighbourhood at ourneighbourhood.com.au/about/australian-football-league.html

Above: Carlton players Kade Simpson and Marc Murphy.

http://ourneighbourhood.com.au/about/australian-football-league.html

5

Events calendar

January 2015Philatelic stamp releases:Christmas Island Lunar New Year: Year of the Goat; Australian Native Animals; Australia Post Australian Legends Award.

1 JanuaryNew Year’s Day

2 January Australia Post authorised day

18 January – 8 February Midsumma Festival 2015: Midsumma Festival has been held annually since 1988. Melbournians come together for a celebration of queer arts and culture.

22 JanuaryAustralia Legends Series stamps released: The Australia Post Legends Award is presented each year to honour individuals who have made a lifetime contribution to the development of our national identity and character.

26 JanuaryAustralia Day

February 2015 Philatelic stamp releases: Love is in the Air; Era of Sail: Clipper Ships.

23 February Our Neighbourhood Grants: Applications open.

March 2015 April 2015 Philatelic stamp releases: Tourist Transport; Australian Trees; Visiting Birds: Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

2 MarchLabour Day (WA)

8 MarchInternational Women’s Day: Celebrating the economic, social and political achievements of women all over the world. Australia Post actively supports our female employees and women in the communities in which we operate.

9 MarchCanberra Day (ACT), March Public Holiday (SA), Eight Hours Day (Tas), Labour Day (Vic)

16–22 MarchA Taste of Harmony: To celebrate our cultural diversity, register your event at www.tasteofharmony.org.au for the chance to win dinner for six with Guy Grossi (see page 2).

Philatelic stamp releases:ANZAC: Joint Issue Australia and New Zealand; Queen’s Birthday 2015; Centenary of WWI: Gallipoli.

2 AprilOur Neighbourhood Grants: Applications close.

3 AprilGood Friday

4 AprilEaster Saturday (excluding Tas and WA)

5 AprilEaster Sunday (NSW)

6 AprilEaster Monday

25 AprilANZAC Day

27 April ANZAC Day holiday (WA only)


Business update

94.5%Service performance (basic letters – target 94%)

What’s been happening?• From 9 January, we extended the Express Post next day

service to include Saturdays for no extra cost. Saturday delivery is available for Express Post parcels lodged on Friday, within a new same-state Saturday delivery network, for delivery to residential and business addresses, 24/7 Parcel Lockers (accessible on Saturdays), post offices and business hubs that are open on Saturdays.

• Together with our National Community Partner, Social Traders, we launched the Good Spender website to provide social enterprises with a platform to sell their goods and generate positive outcomes for the community.

• The National Conversation platform has had more than 100,000 visitors.

• We launched a refreshed Workforce Conversation portal with specific pages for Postal Services and Parcel Services, inviting our people to talk to us about what is important to them as our business continues to evolve.

• We are continuing to partner with Federal MPs to visit communities across Australia to gain their views on our services and what they want from Post in the future. Since August last year, we have visited 27 locations and hosted 83 community events, with around 700 attendees.

Safety update*The all occupational injury frequency rate (AOIFR) of 18.2 for year-to-date October 2014 reflects a 20.5 per cent improvement on 2013. The top three mechanisms for occupational injury claims are body stress (44 per cent), motorcycle accidents (25 per cent) and “object strikes body” (11 per cent).

Our lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) of 5.5 for year-to-date October 2014 indicates an improvement of 31.3 per cent on 2013 year, or 44 fewer lost time injuries. Motorcycle accidents account for 34 per cent of lost time injuries.

While we are showing an improvement in work-related injury rates, we need to continue our efforts to sustain a high level of awareness, keep safety top of mind and take permission to pause.

*Figures are not inclusive of StarTrack.

1.6 millMyPost Concession account holders

5.5Lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR)

100,000+ MyPost Deliveries account holders

18.23 millMonthly average retail foot traffic

14.9 Net Promoter Score (NPS – target 14.8)

What are our customers saying? “I placed an online order with Peter’s of Kensington, Sunday night just before midnight (just prior to [the] cut–off for Melbourne Christmas delivery). Our friendly parcel contractor delivered the package three days later, on Wednesday. My daughter was ‘over the moon’ with the service.”Parcel customer

“I was really impressed with how StarTrack’s Offsite Freight Handler, Les Shorthand, worked with Breville staff to ensure the direct loads and the mixed loads back to Minchinbury were loaded… It was a great team effort to clear the Breville Warehouse; thank you and your team.”Stuart Roche, Logistics Manager, Breville

“I would love it if it [the post office] could be larger in space so that I can look with a view to purchase any products that I may like or want.”Customer rating 8 Broken Hill Post Shop, NSW

“Didn’t know about the Saturday opening. Very happy we could pick up our parcel - very convenient.”Customer rating 10 Coburg Post Shop, Vic

9.25 retailCX score

40 + Providers on MyPost Digital Mailbox

6 Post Journal January/February 2015

http://ourneighbourhood.com.au/about/social-traders.html

http://ourneighbourhood.com.au/about/social-traders.html


Cashing in on China’s travel boom

Together with UnionPay International and Bank of China, we launched a new UnionPay Load&Go multi-currency prepaid travel card to support the almost half a million Australians travelling to China for business and leisure each year.

To celebrate the product launch and to signify the importance of this partnership for both Australia and China, we hosted an event at Parliament House in Canberra on 17 November. In attendance was the Minister for Communications, Malcolm Turnbull, along with senior executives from Australia Post, China UnionPay and Bank of China.

This partnership was recognised as one of 20 agreements to be signed between China and Australia as part of a bipartisan signing ceremony, signifying the relationship between the two governments. Our Group CEO & Managing Director, Ahmed Fahour, together with the Chairman of Bank of China and Chairman of China UnionPay, took part in the official signing ceremony, which was witnessed by the President of China, Xi Jinping, and Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott.

China UnionPay is a fast-growing international payment brand, with more than 4.5 billion cards issued, and is accepted by more than 23 million merchants around the world.

The Load&Go China travel card can be used to securely access cash or make payments in China and around the globe, in person or online, wherever UnionPay cards are accepted. Since

December we have been progressively rolling out the cards to post offices around the country.

What’s happening

This partnership was recognised as one of 20 agreements to be signed between China and Australia as part of a bipartisan signing ceremony.

Main image (left to right): Mr Ge Huayong, China UnionPay and UnionPay International Chairman; Xi Jinping, President of China; Tony Abbott, Prime Minister of Australia; and Ahmed Fahour, Australia Post Group Managing Director & CEO.

Inset: Xi Jinping (left) with Ahmed Fahour as he accepts the agreement from Prime Minister Tony Abbott.


What’s happening

Supporting consumers and businesses at home and abroad

Did you know...?Global ecommerce sales are expected to

grow by 17 per cent from 2012 to 2017, and our Asia Pacific market is expected to displace North America as the largest

global ecommerce market.

emerging. Nevertheless, Australia Post is committed to protecting and growing its presence and capabilities in the international and partner market with a regional and potentially global focus.”

Australian businesses and consumers increasingly rely on international supply chains, particularly from Asia, for products. These international supply chains present both potential growth opportunities and challenges for Australia Post.

Within Parcel Services, we are focused on maximising these opportunities so we can continue to provide a reliable delivery network for Australian consumers who access international markets via online shopping. Doing this successfully and growing our share of the international market will also help us to further invest in growing our international networks.

We chat with Charles Thompson, General Manager, International & Partner Sales, Parcel Services, to find out how we’re growing our international parcel opportunities.

“In broad terms, most of the things we consume in Australia are manufactured offshore, like the clothes we wear or the technology we love,” Charles says. “We are a net import nation so our business needs to help consumers and businesses with international supply chains.

“As such, Parcel Services has two main objectives around becoming the delivery provider of choice for inbound international parcel volumes. First, we aim to capture inbound products at their place of origin and then coordinate transport of those products to their Australian destination, which might be a local warehouse or retail store for business customers [B2B] or directly to the consumer [B2C]. Cross-border solutions with end-to-end visibility and tracking enhance customer value and are crucial to us being able to increase our share of the international market.

“However, as we are unlikely to capture all goods at their origin, the second key objective is to coordinate the business we do with freight companies – our competitors in some areas – that use our last-mile distribution networks in Australia. While they are competitors, this group includes some of our biggest customers – DHL, FedEx, UPS, Linfox, eBay, Brightstar – because of the volumes they send through our network. So we need to balance the benefits of the volumes they bring with the fact that they compete directly with us in some areas.

“We aim to process substantial and profitable inbound volumes through our domestic networks. For outbound volumes we are working on design solutions to help Australian businesses sell their products internationally. This is especially important now with the increased demand for premium and high-quality Australian products, particularly in Asia.

“Naturally the market is attractive to other players and the competition is fierce with many new business models

Above: Charles Thompson, General Manager, International & Partner Sales, Parcel Services.


What’s happening

NetSuiteIn October last year, we embarked on a new partnership with NetSuite, a US based omni-channel commerce software provider. The new partnership gave retailers and consumers access to a suite of cloud-based operating programs to improve parcel delivery and collection processes, including access to parcel lockers and Parcel Collect, via the NetSuite platform. Online homewares retailer www.kitchenwaredirect.com.au has already successfully integrated the parcel collection widget through the NetSuite platform.

AlibabaIn July last year, we signed two agreements with the Alibaba Group, a privately owned China-based group of internet-based business sites, which include Alibaba.com – the world’s largest online business-to-business trading platform for small businesses.

The agreement with the Alibaba Group means local businesses can partner with us to access the Tmall.com online marketplace to sell to more than 500 million registered Chinese consumers. It also makes it easier for Australian consumers to purchase items directly from China via Tmall.com and the Taobao Marketplace – an online marketplace for consumer-to-consumer trade – using Alipay vouchers.

Our global ecommerce partnerships helping to grow online business

Australia Post is opening doors for Australian businesses around the globe through a range of ecommerce partnerships with international postal organisations, ecommerce marketplaces and global technology businesses.

Because of our physical location and our relationships in Asia and New Zealand, we can help local business access new markets in the region.

Long-term partnerships, such as our joint venture with China Post through Sai Cheng Logistics International, allow us to provide third-party logistic services such as warehousing, fulfilment, customs clearance and line-haul capacity in China for business customers from around the world.

Our business has been evolving for 200 years in response to new demands from our customers, new technology and new markets. Through our ecommerce partnerships, we can continue to support our Australia Post and StarTrack customers to sell and deliver their products to customers all over the world.

Below: Small business customers will benefit from our global partnerships.

Title tile


What's happening

Last year was another big year for online retail around the world as ecommerce continues to grow. While Australia is only a small market, representing three per cent of the total global ecommerce spend at an estimated $15 billion, this still translates to a lot of sales.

Trend alertThe big ecommerce trend impacting 2014 online “sales events” was the increase in the use of mobiles to browse and purchase online bargains.

During Click Frenzy we saw transactions made on mobile devices reach more than 20 per cent, with 43 per cent of total traffic coming from smart phones and tablets. Likewise, 43 per cent of all Singles’ Day 2014 orders were purchased on mobile devices.

Bumper year for online sales frenzies

Many of these sales were generated through high-profile global online sales events featuring heavily promoted major discounts on hot-ticket consumer goods. Here’s a quick roundup of the major online shopping events for 2014.

Cyber Monday (United States) is a marketing term for the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday. eCommerce sales during Cyber Monday in 2014 hit $2.04 billion, up 17 per cent on the previous year.

Black Friday (United States) is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. Since the early 2000s, it has been regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the US, and most major retailers open very early and offer promotional sales. According to the US National Retail Federation, which surveyed 4,600 consumers, retail spending hit $50.9 billion over the four-day period (Thursday to Sunday), with shoppers spending an average of $380.95.

Singles’ Day, held on 11 November, is China’s version of Valentine’s Day for single people. It is now the world’s largest online retail day and sees millions of people celebrating single life by shopping for themselves online. Consumers from 217 countries spent $9.3 billion dollars on Singles’ Day last year. More than 278 million products were purchased, 250,000 temporary staff were hired as part of a delivery workforce of 1.25 million, and Alipay (China’s equivalent to PayPal) processed 2.85 million transactions per minute!

Click Frenzy (Australia), which is now in its third year, is a 24-hour online sale that takes place in the pre-Christmas retail period. Online sales in last year’s Click Frenzy campaign were up by almost 28 per cent from 2013 and delivered an estimated $30 million in sales. Individual customers also spent more per order, with the average value of orders increasing to around $150.


Title tile

11

What's happening

In time for Christmas we…• upgraded our parcel facilities in two of our

biggest markets – Sydney and Melbourne – to double our capacity and significantly improve our processing capability

• launched MyPost Deliveries to give customers greater choice in how they manage their parcel deliveries

• introduced ShopMate, enabling Australian consumers to buy from overseas stores that only ship to USA addresses by providing a US address and forwarding orders to Australia.

Supporting our customers over ChristmasThe lead-up to Christmas is not only our busiest time of year, but a time when our customers rely on us, more than ever, to deliver millions of parcels and letters each week to their loved ones.

To keep up with the increased demand for our services during the peak period, we increased our workforce by 20 per cent in our major facilities. Our teams were working around the clock in our facilities and many of our people were doing extra shifts at short notice across all areas of our operations.

By monitoring our network and working closely with our customers, we were able to relocate our people to where they were needed most.

This year, we delivered parcels on weekends and had more post offices open for extended hours on Saturdays than ever before.

Congratulations and thanks to everyone involved in supporting our customers and each other through our busiest time of year.

More than

1,000,000 parcels a day were processed in the days leading up to Christmas.

Tuesday

16 Decemberwas the busiest single day forparcels across our major parcelfacilities around the country.

2,063 Christmas casuals.

823 volunteers and

Post-Christmas sales:

Parcel volumesremained high into January as shoppers took advantage of online Boxing Day sales and back-to-school specials, extending our traditional peak season.

This year we had


What's happening

Future Parcels Network celebrationsIn late 2014 the Future Parcels Network team completed phase one of delivering our new parcels network, and people came together at a number of facilities to celebrate.

Gary Stubbs, Program Director Future Parcels Network, says, “I am extremely proud and delighted that – as a team – we accomplished everything we set out to do. I am privileged to have been involved in this program, and look forward to the next phase as we continue to upgrade our network.”

Here are some highlights of the program so far:

• Sydney Parcel Facility (SPF) was expanded to 38,000 square metres and Melbourne Parcel Facility (MPF) was doubled to more than 30,000 square metres.

• Additional parcel processing capacity was made available at these facilities for the Christmas period and will increase again in 2015 with the installation of state-of-the-art processing equipment and technology.

• More than 18,000 eParcel customers were migrated to new smart barcodes to improve security and flexibility for customers through greater parcel tracking and redirection capability.

• The Alexandria Business Hub consolidated a business hub, parcel lockers/collection point, parcel delivery centre, van operations, bulk mail lodgement centre, and delivery, giving more than 5,000 local businesses and 350,000 consumers better access to services.

• Sydney Gateway Facility (SGF) expanded to 25,450 square metres. We also installed a state-of-the-art multi-product sorter – capable of sorting up to 300,000 units per day by product characteristics (weight, dimension, type) and destination, increasing parcel-processing capacity for inbound international and domestic small parcels.

Feedback from employees at grand opening events

Alexandria“Moving over 700 staff into one site was certainly not easy. During the past 12 months, staff have been extremely supportive of the amalgamation. There were a number of great ideas from [them] to make this amalgamation happen so smoothly.” Kwong Chuen, facility manager

“With the size of the project, it was great how it all came together without any hassles. This is the result of [everyone] working together.” Marek Urbanski, union representative

Above and top centre: Employees with their friends and families enjoying open day festivities.

Above right: (left to right) Stuart Henricks, operational lead, Mark Barry, Manager Sydney Parcel Facility, Ever Gurrea, operational lead and Eugene Baco, operational lead.

Opposite page top right: George Krikas with his children at the Melbourne Parcel Facility open day celebration.


“Future Network has set the benchmark within the logistics industry and has allowed Australia Post to transition with technological advancement, ultimately improving performance and satisfaction with internal and external stakeholders.” Adrian Fernandez, process leader

Sydney Parcel Facility

“It has been great to see how the Sydney Parcel Facility family has embraced the challenges of the Future Network program and all the changes that we have been confronted with in the workplace. We can take great pride in being able to maintain operations and continue to enhance the customer experience.”Mark Barry, facility manager

“It was a day that I’ll never forget, especially being part of the local working group — that made me proud. Apart from meeting well−renowned personnel of the Australia Post family, it was a pleasure and honour to share this momentous day with them. Looking forward to phase 2.” Ibrahim Rachidi, parcel post officer

In the December 2014 edition of Post Journal, images from the Sydney Gateway Facility incorrectly accompanied an article on Alexandria Business Hub.

Sydney Gateway Facility“The approach taken on the open day was to continue to showcase collaborative spirit and customer focus … our staff have proven once more that dedication and a can−do attitude will [help us to] succeed every time.” Raj Kaur, facility manager

“It was an opportunity to showcase our improved technology and infrastructure and to educate our families and the general public [about] Post as a viable enterprise in a fast−moving and competitive field.” Heng Cheng Ngy and Luu Dang Thi Hong Cuc, mail officers

Melbourne Parcel Facility“Future Network has given me the opportunity to be a champion. I took the first step toward change and was able to open the door for change with my workmates.” Ashish Mathew, mail officer and large parcel sorting system

(LPSS) champion

“With our major focus on safety, it is good to see MPF leading the way. Fair work rotation in line with safe work duration. Stop. Think. Do.” David Skendaris, operational lead

What's happening


Our people

A day in the life of an Australia Post technician

The technicians from our Engineering Services team play a vital role in keeping our letter and parcel processing equipment operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, across our national network.

Dandenong Letters Centre (DLC) in Victoria employs more than 700 of our people, primarily operating mail processing equipment that processes over six million articles per day. The technical team at DLC includes 64 technicians who work around the clock to maintain and repair more than 70 machines and their associated components, including a modern image-handling computer system.

Gamini Gunawardana, Facility Technical Manager, describes the collaborative partnership that exists between the Engineering Services and Mail Network Operations teams at the facility.

“Our technicians and the Mail Network Operations team share a common goal – to ensure that all of the mail processing equipment works at its optimum level,” Gamini says. “We work closely with DLC operations managers to understand the upcoming production plan – this outlines when the mail processing machines will be used.

“Once we understand the operational windows, our focus is on two major functions – to perform preventative and corrective maintenance on the mail processing equipment.

“We conduct safety pre-checks and once the machines are running, it’s our job to ensure they continue to run smoothly and that any faults are fixed safely and quickly.

Our people

“As part of our preventative maintenance focus, we also have a calendar of scheduled inspections that are performed on the machines during non-peak operational periods. To use an example, this is similar to booking your car in for a service and tune-up to keep it working well.”

Technician Luke Banks describes the diverse nature of his role at DLC and how the depth of knowledge and experience within the team contribute to its success.

“I started at Australia Post 10 years ago as an apprentice electrical engineer,” Luke says. “Throughout the four-year apprenticeship I was able to gain valuable experience by rotating through different areas across the business.

“I have been able to learn how to perform maintenance and diagnose faults on a wide range of processing equipment in the mail and parcel networks. I’ve benefited a lot from the opportunity to learn new skills and apply them on the job.

“When there is a fault on a machine, it’s important that we are able to think quickly to perform a diagnostic that determines the problem and solution.”

Production Manager, Rod Hoober, highlighted the valuable role that technicians play in supporting Mail Network Operations.

“We recently had a critical situation when a fault on a machine at the Hobart Mail Centre left it non-operational,” says Rod. “Gamini, along with Aurang Qayum and Chandra Hosanee [two of our technicians from DLC], flew across to Hobart and assisted the local team with fixing the problem over the weekend. This shows how critical our technicians are to our mail network, ensuring we can operate efficiently and deliver mail to our customers on time.”

Luke agrees that this common goal focused on our customers is key to success. “Our team has a wealth of knowledge and experience that extends across electrical and mechanical engineering, computer systems and network-related engineering specialisations,” he says. “We use this collectively to achieve the best outcome for our mail network operations.”

Did you know...?

There is always a technician on hand to oversee the efficient running of our

equipment - no matter what time of day or night it is!


“Our technicians and the Mail Network Operations team share a common goal – to ensure that all of the mail processing equipment works at its optimum level.”

Main image: (Left to right) Gamini, Rod and Luke discuss a technical issue with one of the mail sorting machines at DLC.

Inset: Gamini and Luke enjoy working as part of the team.

Above right: Luke (left) with fellow technicians Frank Italia and Brian Forth.


Collaboration

Talk to Ian Jones, our General Manager Enterprise Corporate & Government Sales, and you can see his passion for the customer.

A relatively new member of the Australia Post family, Ian joined Post from Salmat in late 2013 after 21 years with the company. His areas of expertise are sales management and business development, which make him a great choice to lead the 200-strong Enterprise Corporate & Government Sales team.

His team looks after our top 1,200 business customers, including Wesfarmers, Optus, Telstra and Australia’s largest banks and utilities companies. Ian brings to Australia Post the idea of “solutions selling”. We speak to him to find out what that means.

“Australia Post is evolving and it’s up to the sales team to change the misconception that we just look after letters and parcels,” Ian says. “There’s a huge opportunity for us to showcase our expertise in providing trusted services and really grow that part of our business, particularly around managing risk, fraud and identity management. Our market offering provides an opportunity that no other Australian company has. That’s one of the reasons I joined Australia Post.”

Ian says that we recently had one customer who was blown away by the breadth of our services – and they have been with us for the past 20 years. “It goes to show that we can always talk more with our customers, show them better value and continually surprise and delight,” he says.

Creating the solutions our customers need

“The team has three priorities,” Ian says. “Growing parcels and trusted services revenue, building up capability in our

frontline sales team, and moving from a product to a customer solution-focused organisation.

“I’m optimistic about the future. Not just for our team’s future, but also for the future of Australia Post. We are a great team and if we can collaborate, then we can most certainly help the enterprise grow even more.”

Our people

"Our market offering provides an opportunity that no other Australian company has. That’s one of the reasons I joined Australia Post.”

Main image: Ian Jones (second from left), with Luke Child, Commercial Sales Executive, Naomi Obernhumer, Head of Sales - Postal Partners, and Nicholas Tomaras, Commercial Sales Executive.

Inset: Ian Jones says there are plenty of opportunities for Australia Post to grow.


Our peopleFrom retail to modelling: announcing our retail corporate wardrobe competition winnersLate last year, Postal Services ran a competition for its frontline retail employees with the chance to feature in the 2015 Retail Corporate Wardrobe brochure. Entrants were required to submit 50 words or less on why they wanted to be in the brochure along with a photo of themselves in their Australia Post retail uniform.

There was a great response, with more than 60 entries received nationally, from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia to Lakes Entrance in Victoria and Wyong in New South Wales. The level of enthusiasm, effort and creativity made it a very challenging task to select the winners, with some entries in the form of poems, puzzles, photo shoots and action shots.

The winners were selected for their dedication to their job, excellent customer service, wearing their uniform with pride, and their ability to represent our diverse workforce and organisation. The photo shoot will be held in Melbourne during February.

Thank you to everyone who entered and congratulations to our winners:

• Luke Jones, Geraldton, Western Australia

• Margaret Iles, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

• Lynne Lehanne, Penrith, New South Wales

• Brendan Vandervliet, Port Macquarie, New South Wales

• Keara Rogers, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

• Eseta Alosio, Logan Central, Queensland.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the great entries we received“I would love to be involved with the new catalogue sharing not only my face as a dedicated and loyal worker but also to remind people that whatever our age or image we can all look great in our uniform that represents such a great company to be part of.” Kylie Morris, Wyong Post Office, New South Wales

“I would like my teenage daughters to understand that one doesn’t have to be perfect; just passionate and brave to achieve great things.” Jo-Anne Fownes, Wollongong Post Office, New South Wales

“I love my job and have always felt a sense of pride working with such a diverse and multicultural organisation. I like to think that when I am wearing my corporate uniform I am being a great ambassador for Australia Post.” Rangi Davis, Westpoint Blacktown Post Office, New South Wales

Some of our worthy winners: Keara Rogers (below left), Brendan Vandervliet (below right), and Eseta Alosio (above).


Our people

Our winners: Ravinath Pannala (left) and Jamshed Irani (above) receiving their awards from our Chief Informaion Officer, Andrew Walduck.

Congratulations to the 2014 Applaud winnersThe 2015 Applaud award recipients have been announced with four individuals and one team receiving recognition for their positive contribution to our workplace and role modelling our Culture Pillars.

Safety: John Evangelista, Postal ServicesJohn was recognised after volunteering to run safety discussions with 35 team members who had been through a safety incident in the past 18 months. Participants valued John’s genuine interest and his focus on making improvements to avoid subsequent injuries. John also provided recommendations to his area manager about ways to improve store layouts and back-of-house storage areas.

Accountability: Ravinath Pannala, IDTAmong the challenges and complexities of a recent upgrade to SAP (DS 4.1), Ravi emerged as a leader, despite not having formal management responsibility for the project. He found that some design and scheduling assumptions for the project were incorrect and used his judgement to implement solutions, rather than deferring the issue to others. He set up regular meetings to openly discuss and resolve problems and successfully encouraged others to follow. His unwavering accountability ensured deadlines were met despite obstacles.

Customer Focus: Jamshed Irani, IDTAs the SAP ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) expert on the Royalty Billing project, Jamshed’s focus was always on the end user and understanding the impact of decisions upon them. The Wholesale Customer Service team appreciated Jamshed’s ability to respond to questions and issues using non-technical terms, and credited his friendly approach and willingness to go above and beyond to assist them.

Speed of Action: Niall Dempsey, Postal ServicesWhen Perth Delivery Centre closed last year, LPOs in Western Australia received supplies for the first time from two different warehouses. As a result they were making daily enquiries on stamp orders and supply delays during the busy Christmas period. Niall worked with the Retail Network Partnership team and spoke directly with licensees to find out the cause of issues; he quickly addressed and settled them by the following day.

Team: StarTrack Operations Training team, Parcel ServicesStarTrack’s team of 16 performance trainers has been a critical component in the rollout of a wide range of initiatives including scanner training, Expect Respect and the promotion of the say2action survey across all StarTrack depots. The team worked together to make a significant contribution to the operations strategy.


Our people

Inclusive and supported employment

Our work to promote understanding of people with disability is gaining recognition on both a national and international scale.

Australia Post’s The Real Stories project was a shortlisted finalist for the Improving Employment Opportunities award at the 2014 National Disability Awards. Work Mate, the training film created for the project, has also won recognition, scoring the Best Foreign Short Film award at the International Family Film Festival.

Above: Jenny (seated) and her team of supporters from the Sydney West facility.

On 3 December last year, we once again celebrated the valuable contribution that people with disability make to our diverse workforce as part of International Day of People with Disability. Around 2,250 people in our workforce identify as having some form of disability. Here are just a few worthy of recognition.

Caroline BrowneCaroline Browne, a deaf employee from the Leightonfield Delivery Facility (New South Wales), features in a JobAccess video that encourages other employers to say “yes” to employing people with disability.

Caroline is one of four deaf employees at the facility who use Auslan interpreting services funded by JobAccess.

“We used to communicate with pen and paper and often I didn’t really understand,” Caroline says. “My frustration has now disappeared by having an interpreter here – I am very happy.”

Kylie GalagherKylie Galagher is from Sydney Gateway Facility and started at Post 20 years ago after finding the job via disability employment services provider, Jobsupport.

Kylie is credited by her manager Emmanuel Rizzo as being “an exceptional worker who loves her role and inspires others with her diligence and hard work”.

The Hon Mitch Fifield, Assistant Minister for Social Services, recognised Kylie’s service to Australia Post at an event celebrating Jobsupport’s achievement in helping 600 people with an intellectual disability find a job.

Jenny KellyColleagues in Sydney have raised more than $1,500 for the Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre in appreciation of the work the centre is doing for their colleague, Jenny Kelly.

Jenny has worked as a video coder at Sydney West Letters Facility (SWLF) for more than 15 years in a silent world, having been born almost completely deaf.

Now, Jenny is looking forward to receiving a cochlear implant through the centre, which, for the first time, will enable her to hear her children speak.

Liana Wyld, production support at SWLF, says, “We are looking forward to Jenny receiving the implant very soon and seeing the look on her face when she can hear us for the first time”.


Our people

Artwork dresses wall at Midland Delivery CentreThe City of Swan and local youth have joined forces to create an Australia Post-inspired urban mural on the rear wall of Midland Delivery Centre (DC) in Western Australia.

The mural was commissioned by the City of Swan as part of their GrafFix project, which aims to deal with the issue of illegal graffiti. It also gives young artists the chance to be involved in public art projects, instilling in them a sense of pride and community.

Trevor Bly, City of Swan GrafFix Project Officer, worked closely with fellow mentor artist Michael Shime throughout the design and execution of the Midland DC project.

City of Swan Mayor, Charlie Zannino, says GrafFix is jointly funded under a grant from the Federal Government and delivered by the City of Swan.

“Through the GrafFix program, we give local young people the opportunity to learn about urban artworks and work on their own art piece in a public space,” he says.

“GrafFix is a proactive program that targets areas impacted by graffiti, deterring illegal tagging, and gives the young people a great sense of pride in their local environment.”

The artwork was designed by local young artists engaged at Swan City Youth Service around the theme “postal”. The design incorporates various postal references, including the Black Penny – which was the first stamp to be released in Australia – a postal van, street posting box, and a futuristic “mailman pod”. In the background, letters and parcels are

“flying” through the sky.

Grant Pritchett, Delivery Manager Midland DC, says he was approached by the City of Swan back in October last year seeking approval for the $10,000 project.

“We’ve had ongoing issues with the wall being vandalised with graffiti,” says Grant. “Because it faces public parkland we have a responsibility to ensure that it’s presentable for the community. We’ve had to paint over

graffiti many times and this has cost Australia Post time and money.

“This was a perfect opportunity to deal with the vandalism once and for all. The kids have produced a piece of art that the entire community can appreciate and enjoy.”

“This was a perfect opportunity to deal with the vandalism once and for all. The kids have produced a piece of art that the entire community can appreciate and enjoy.”

Above: Grant is proud to be part of such a worthwhile cause for the community.


Our people

Neville’s sweet surprise

Meet Ross LangfeltFor Ross Langfelt, the post office has been his life for the past 54 years. Having joined the Postmaster General’s (PMG) Department in 1960, Ross has seen much of south-west Queensland, having worked in Nambour, Roma, Dirranbandi, Miles, Longreach and Brisbane, before making his home in the Caboolture area.

He started his career with the PMG at 15 years of age. This was a bit of a family tradition, with his father in the post office and a sister as a telephonist.

Ross has seen some unusual things in his career. “The strangest thing I came across was when a woman wanted to send half a sheep to England,” Ross says. “I explained to her that it probably wouldn’t be too good after five days of travel!”

Care package: Janette Hunt, postal manager at the Queanbeyan Post Shop in New South Wales, sent in this photo of her team who got into the Christmas spirit and put together care packages to send to our deployed troops.

Got a photo to share? Send it to [email protected]

Sydney post box: Julie Steel, postal delivery officer from the Leightonfield Delivery Facility in New South Wales, recently took this photo of a post box on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour at Cremorne Point, looking towards the city of Sydney.

Neville Raccini, a postal delivery coordinator from the Port Macquarie Delivery Centre (DC) in New South Wales, received a lovely surprise from one of his customers last year in the form of a fruit tray.

Neville has been through some tough times recently as both of his parents passed away within a five-week period of each other. Neville subsequently took some time off from work to grieve. On his return to work, his customer, the Port Macquarie Adventist School, asked him about his absence. After being told about Neville’s loss, teachers and students from the school put together a fruit tray and dropped it off with a note to Neville, thanking him for his service and offering their condolences and support.

Neville enjoys getting out and interacting with customers while on his run and has good relationships with his regular customers. Even so, Neville says he was “gob-smacked” by the gesture. “I really do appreciate the gift and note,” he says.

Neville has worked for Post since 1986 when he began his career as a telegram boy at Mount Druitt, 43 kilometres west of Sydney. He now enjoys his role as team leader at Port Macquarie DC.

“Neville is a happy-go-lucky postie with a positive work ethic, and is more than willing to help out fellow employees and customers,” says Neville’s manager Scott Napier. “He believes every customer is valuable and does his job to the best of his ability every day.” Scott adds, “He’s also a great cartoonist and a bit of a joke teller”.

Photo corner


Post People 1st

Post People 1st expo hits the mark Post People 1st (PP1st) is all about putting our employees first when it comes to job opportunities, new skills and career development.

In November, more than 350 Post people saw firsthand the range of jobs, skills and careers services available through PP1st at an expo held in Melbourne.

The expo was well received by participants, with one attendee saying, “I love that Post is doing this. I feel reinvigorated about my career after going to the expo.”

You too can learn how to manage your career more easily with a series of PP1st expos planned at major sites around Australia throughout the year.

1st for jobsAt the Melbourne expo people learned how to search and apply for jobs online from the comfort of their home or from their work computer via the PP1st website.

Employees were shown how to register for job alerts so they can automatically be notified by email as soon as suitable job opportunities are published. They were also shown how to set up a PP1st profile so it’s quick and easy to apply for jobs. These two features are available to employees with access to Employee Self Service in SAP.


Post People 1st

1st for skillsThe expo gave people the perfect opportunity to visit MyLearningHub and take a look at the hundreds of courses, books and short videos available online. The advanced computer skills courses were particularly popular, while a number of people also took the time to explore newer courses like "Leading Self through Change" and "Create Your Future".

Award employees can access MyLearningHub 24/7 from their home or work computer, where they can access useful skills for their job, their career and their life.

MyLearningHub is free for all Award employees and no approvals are required. To find the hub, look for “MyLearningHub” or “Skills” on the PP1st website.

1st for careersAround 90 people booked in for a coaching session at the expo after speaking to a coach about their career options and exploring the next steps. Those interested could complete a questionnaire designed to help them better understand their job preferences, interests, values and employability skills, and then set up a time to explore the results with a coach.

Award employees interested in being coached should look for “PP1st for Careers” or “PP1st coaches” on the PP1st website.

Feedback from the expoCoaching:

“The coaching service is like having a personal careers advisor at work!” “It’s given me ways to achieve my goals that I wouldn’t have thought about.”Skills:

“I didn’t realise they have so many individual courses — there’s something that would appeal to everyone.” “I looked at the tools available in the skills area and I thought: ‘That’s easy; I can do that’.”Jobs:

“It’s exciting that there’s an area of Post that’s available where you can talk to someone and they’ll help you find another role.” “I thought it was just for people who no longer had a job, but now I know it’s also for people with a current job looking for a new role or wanting experience in another area.”

Find out more at auspost.com.au/PP1st

Putting our people first: Employees meeting the PP1st team and seeing what's on offer at the expo.


Community relations

Meet some Our Neighbourhood Community Grant recipients We recently awarded the 2015 Our Neighbourhood Community Grants to a number of very worthy organisations that are helping to build healthier, more vibrant and more inclusive communities.

The grants are funded through Our Neighbourhood Trust, a public charitable fund that collects money from our customers, our people and the community to give to projects in vital need of assistance.

Here, we meet two recent recipients of Our Neighbourhood Community Grants.

The Boneham Cottage Homes Inc. The Boneham Cottage Homes Inc. is a rural-based residential aged care facility in Millicent, South Australia, for elderly residents who have friends, family and loved ones living more than 100 kilometres away.

The facility was very grateful for its $5,812 grant, which will fund the purchase of four tablet devices plus infrastructure to help the facility’s residents keep in touch with their loved ones.

The Boneham Cottage Homes’ Leisure and Lifestyle Officer, Debbie Cavanagh, says, “Residents can communicate with each other and connect to aged-related service providers in a way never before available to them through the latest technology of Wi-Fi enabled tablets. Long distances are no longer a barrier to maintaining family ties and connecting with the broader community.”

Blind Sports and Recreation VictoriaBlind Sports and Recreation Victoria provides opportunities for Victorians who are blind or vision impaired to lead active, healthy lifestyles through sport and recreation. The $10,000 grant they received will support the “Vision beyond the next Post” program. This program will bring together people who are blind or vision impaired, Australia Post, community volunteers and a project leader for a series of interactive, audio-described walks in Melbourne, regional Victoria and Hobart, allowing participants to take part in physical activity in a safe environment.

“Having vision loss can be quite isolating for a lot of our participants,” says Blind Sports and Recreation Victoria Program Coordinator Sandra Knight. “Without the grant, the ability to explore new places would not exist.”

You can make a difference by donating to Our Neighbourhood Trust at ourneighbourood.com.au/donate

More information about Community Grants is available at ourneighbourhood.com.au/grants/community-grants.html

Above (left to right): Blind Sports and Recreation Victoria participants Sandra Knight, Allen Egerton and Wanda Egerton.

Above: A resident from Boneham Cottage uses a digital device to stay in touch.

http://www.ourneighbourood.com.au/donate


What's new

Introducing our new online payment solution

Main image (left to right): Nathan Brown, General Manager SecurePay; Tony Nash CEO and owner of Booktopia; Simon Nash, owner of Booktopia; Andrew Maitland, Australia Post General Manager Trusted Services; and Richard Considine Partner Channel Manager SecurePay.

Above inset: Nathan Brown, General Manager SecurePay, at the launch event in Melbourne.

Left: Andrew Maitland, Australia Post General Manager Trusted Services, at the launch event.

In November last year, Australia Post and SecurePay – a wholly owned subsidiary of Australia Post – launched a new online payments solution, SecurePay Online Payments, making it simpler, faster and safer for businesses to start selling online.

To celebrate the launch, the SecurePay team hosted an event in Melbourne on 25 November, which was attended by many industry experts and developers who were keen to hear more about our innovative solution.

Nathan Brown, General Manager SecurePay, says the product will be a huge benefit to business owners who are keen to get into ecommerce, but, in the past, have been put off by the time required to set up an online payments solution.

“Not only is it quick to start selling online with SecurePay Online Payments, it is also easy,” Nathan says. “No visits to banks are required. Instead, the business owner simply completes an online application and SecurePay Online Payments takes care of providing the two essential elements needed to sell online – an internet merchant account and a payment gateway – in one powerful solution.

“Instead of business owners waiting weeks for an ecommerce solution, typically, an online application takes just five business days to be approved and it can be integrated easily into existing ecommerce shopping carts and websites.”

SecurePay is a leader in online payments and has been providing secure online payment solutions to Australian businesses for the past 15 years.

More than 40,000 businesses and organisations, including start-ups, small- and medium-sized businesses, utility companies, councils and banks, trust SecurePay with their online payments.

SecurePay’s team of payment experts is based entirely in Australia, with local contact details to assist with all questions and integration queries.

To find out more about SecurePay and to view a video about SecurePay Online Payments visit:

securepay.com.au/onlinepayments


Safety

From Bundall in Queensland to Bayswater in Victoria, the Safety Leadership program was rolled out to 22 catchment areas last year.

Safety Leadership training is designed to give leaders the skills to involve and influence their people to create safe conditions and proactively reduce workplace hazards. More than 1,000 operational leaders are now trained in Safety Leadership and have made more than 3,000 personal safety commitments to protect themselves and the safety of their people.

Feedback from leaders has been positive, with many commenting that Safety Leadership has changed the way they have conversations with people about safety. Managers now have better two-way communication with team members to reduce their exposure to risks and hazards within the workplace and are shifting to more positive conversations about operational changes to improve safety.

Our people feel they can pause operations where a risk exists and put safety above productivity, thereby acting on our Permission to Pause philosophy introduced during Safety Time last year.

Kingsgrove Business Hub Manager, Matt Miller, says, “While the business hub already maintains very high safety standards, it’s been wonderful to see Australia Post further invest in its people and enhance safety through this initiative. It’s been especially significant at the supervisor level giving additional skills in how to examine issues and understand why decisions are made.”

Safety Leadership rollout in 2014

Launceston Delivery Centre’s team leaders have started asking daily safety questions instead of using scripted messages. This change has triggered immediate input, engagement and discussion from postal delivery officers about their safety.

Further catchment areas have been scheduled to complete Safety Leadership in 2015 as we continue working towards our desired safety culture, from one of compliance to one of personal accountability.

“After 18 months of commitment to this initiative we are now starting to see significant changes in our safety results, which means less people are being injured in our workplaces,” says Emma Blee, Head of Enterprise Safety. “We are aiming to have an even bigger impact in 2015 to create a sustainable culture change across Australia Post.”

Above: Alexandria Delivery Facility Night Shift Manager, Kritesh Naidu, giving his managers a safety brief.


Title tile

27

Stamp release

Australian Legends: The Victoria CrossAs Australia commemorates the centenary of World War I (1914–18), Australia Post honours five Australians who have received the Victoria Cross, the highest honour that can be bestowed for acts of valour “in the presence of the enemy”. The five individuals have been commemorated in a stamp issue as Australia Post Australian Legends for 2015. They join the many eminent Australians who, since 1997, have received the Australian Legends Award for making a lasting contribution to the Australian identity and way of life.

Our 2015 Australian Legends Award recipientsKeith Payne VC OAM (b. 1933) received his Victoria Cross under the imperial honours system in 1970 for “conspicuous gallantry” in Vietnam. In 1991 the Victoria Cross for Australia was instituted and subsequently awarded to our four other Legends for acts including “conspicuous gallantry” during the conflict in Afghanistan.

These gallant and brave individuals are Mark Donaldson VC (b. 1979), awarded in 2009, Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG (b. 1978), awarded in 2011, Dan Keighran VC (b. 1983), awarded in 2012 and Cameron Baird VC MG (1981–2013), awarded in 2014.

Cameron Baird, who received the Victoria Cross posthumously, is the one hundredth Australian to be awarded the medal. He has been honoured as an Australian Legend as a mark of respect for his courage and the courage of all 100 Victoria Cross recipients.

Did you know…?OAM is a citation awarded to recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia and MG is a citation awarded to recipients of the Medal for Gallantry.

Join us in support of LegacyWith the release of the Australian Legends: The Victoria Cross stamp issue, Australia Post will donate $1 to Legacy from the sale of selected products* purchased in the Legends range in store and online.

*Selected products include the stamp pack, maxicards, booklet collection and first day covers from the Australian Legends product range.

The Australian Legends: The Victoria Cross stamp releaseProducts associated with this stamp issue include a miniature sheet, first day cover, stamp pack, five booklets of 10 x 70 cent self-adhesive stamps, five designed gutter strips (10 x 70 cents), a booklet collection and five maxicards.

The Australian Legends: The Victoria Cross stamp issue was available from 22 January at participating post offices, via mail order on 1800 331 794 and online at auspost.com.au/legends while stocks last.

http://www.auspost.com.au/stamps


Postal World

Postal news from around the globeNew ZealandNew Zealand Post adds something sweet to postcard delivery: New Zealand Post and Cookie Time, a Christchurch-based company that specialises in sweet treats and is best known for producing the world’s biggest cookie, have joined forces to offer “postcard cookies”. After years of trying to enter the international market, Cookie Time approached New Zealand Post and together they developed a special postcard-size box that has enough room to include one of Cookie Time’s original chocolate chunk cookies along with a personal message. The experience of sending a postcard cookie is similar to sending a standard postcard, but has an extra touch of service. If someone orders a postcard cookie without a message, they will be contacted by a Cookie Time team member to see if they would like to add one. Postcard cookies can be sent to almost every country in the world excluding Costa Rica and Israel. There are plans to extend to these countries in the future.

FranceToys"R"Us trials rollerblading couriers in Paris: Toys"R"Us in France partnered with the Tok Tok Tok courier company over the Christmas peak to give Parisian customers the opportunity to have their toys delivered by rollerblading couriers. The unique delivery method allowed customers to receive their orders within an hour of placing them if they were placed between 9am and 5pm. The service aimed to appeal to time-poor parents to help them sort out last-minute purchases, while setting Toys"R"Us apart in the competitive toy market. With toy sales in the United Kingdom and Europe declining by more than 50 per cent since 2012, toy stores are diversifying to compete with major retailers like Amazon and large supermarket chains including Tesco.

IndonesiaDHL Indonesia to train and educate marginalised children: DHL Indonesia recently partnered with SOS Children’s Villages International – a not-for-profit group that supports children who have lost or are at risk of losing parental care – to provide soft-skill training workshops to local marginalised children from unstable socioeconomic backgrounds. The program will be held at the DHL Express facility and the DHL supply chain warehouse in Graha Intirub, East Jakarta, and will teach the initial 25 participants, between the ages of 15 and 22, how to write resumes and job applications and build their interview skills. This partnership is part of DHL’s GoTeach program, which aims to provide young people with educational programs and better access to future employment.

Belgium Bpost extends City Logistics trial to Brussels: Belgium’s postal service, bpost, is set to extend its City Logistics concept to Brussels after a successful trial in Antwerp. City Logistics aims to improve deliveries in urban areas where growing traffic congestion makes it difficult to enter cities and drive through them in a timely manner. Couriers are now able to unload their parcels at a specially built warehouse on the outskirts of the city. The parcels are then sorted and the consolidated deliveries are driven into the city once a day during off-peak traffic times, effectively reducing the amount of inner-city traffic. This simplifies the work of transport companies and limits the number of kilometres covered in the city. The service not only reduces traffic congestion, it could also have a significant environmental impact, with predictions that carbon dioxide emissions from delivery routes could be reduced by up to 30 per cent.

United StatesUPS make the music happen with U2: American logistics company UPS has partnered with popular Irish rock group U2 to support them in their upcoming iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour 2015. The partnership will help to reduce freight costs associated with transporting U2’s production equipment, making it more effective and sustainable compared to other logistics companies. Ron Rogowski, UPS Vice President, Global Brand and Sponsorships, says, “We’re excited to work closely with U2 on this amazing tour in the most sustainable and environmentally responsible manner while providing them [with] speed, efficiency and reliability”.

The New Zealand Gov

ernment

created a Minister for

Lord

of the Rings to ensure the

most money could be m

ade from

the films, which pum

ped around

$200 million into the

economy.

Travel Insurance20% staff discount*

• Comprehensive cover that includes $unlimited overseas medical and dental cover^

• 24/7 emergency assistance

• Trip cancellation and amendment cover

• Available in-store from as little as $6 or $10 a day depending on your destination+

To take advantage of your Travel Insurance staff discount

Buy online at: auspost.com.au/travelinsurance call: 1300 728 015, or purchase in-store.

Promo code: APSTAFF2020% discount is available from 5 January to 28 February 2015

*Discount is not available in conjunction with any other offer. The premium will be rounded to the nearest $1 amount and as a result the discount received may be less than 20% in some cases. ^Medical cover will not exceed 12 months from onset. +$6 a day is based on the in-store product and provides cover if the destination you will spend most time in is Europe, Asia, Indonesia, New Zealand or the South Pacific. $10 a day is based on the in-store product and provides cover if the destination you will spend most time in is USA, Canada, South America and Africa.

Limits, exclusions and conditions apply. This is general advice only. Policies may not be available to all travellers. Australia Post is an Authorised Representative, AR 338646, of Travel Insurance Partners Pty Limited ABN 73 144 049 230, AFSL 360138 who issues insurance underwritten by Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) PLC, trading as “Great Lakes Australia” ARBN 127 740 532, ABN 18 964 580 576, AFSL 318603. Review your own needs and the relevant Product Disclosure Statement available online at auspost.com.au/travelinsurance before deciding to buy this insurance.

425107_Ad for pOst Journal - Travel Insurance 20% staff discount_468058-1.indd 1 8/01/2015 3:05 pm

Workforce Conversation portal

Signing up is easy Simply:

auspost.com.au/workforceconversation

• Go to the site below and click "register"

• Enter the access code 24A3d1#

• Complete steps 1 to 3• Make sure you have

your APS number handy

Join in the discussion!Have your questions answered, share ideas and stay in the know anywhere, anytime online.

Documents

Post journal jan feb 15 low res 2