Post journal Oct Nov 2014

Safety: our number one priorityInside this edition:

• Safety Time 2014: “Permission to Pause”• How Australia Post is evolving:

Australia Post Annual Report 2014• Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report 2014

Post JournalOctober/November 2014 Issue 380

PRINT POST APPROVED100009237

Title tile

Inside October/November 2014

Post Journal is Australia Post’s workforce magazine. It is mailed to employees, licensees, franchisees, contractors and other interested parties. © Australia Post 2014

Grab some tips on safer work practices on page 20.

Read all about how we value and encourage diversity at Post on page 12.

Features10 Your Post is evolving:

Australia Post Annual Report 2014

12 Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report 2014

16 Building a safe network

17 Business hubs safety workshop

18 Safety Time 2014: “Permission to Pause”

20 Safety tips for you at work

Regulars2 In Short: News from around the business

6 Events calendar

7 Business update

What’s happening

8 Changes in our letters business present opportunities for our people

9 We’re making Christmas easier for our customers

14 Diversity: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traineeship program

Community

14 Become a Pyjama Angel

14 National Recycling Week

14 Launching Good Spender

15 Our Neighbourhood grants awarded

22 Post People 1st: Have you put yourself first lately?

Customer focus

24 Thank you Australia Post

25 Postie making in-roads for sales team

26 Expanding our trusted services to meet changing customer needs

27 Stamp release: Honouring the Australian Defence Force

28 Postal World: Postal news from around the globe

Editor Rhiannon Telpuk

Writers Belinda Allitt, Claire Cameron, Sharon Carroll, Jacqui Davis, Nardia Dazkiw, Clare Deehan, Daina Fahey, Mary Gillman, Stephanie Hewish, John Link, Hilary Maddocks, Jeff Mollet, Amanda Murray-Johnson, Diane Nguyen, Lana North, Deborah O’Brien, Laura Schipano, Rebecca Smith, Michael Stevens, Terry Strates, Rhiannon Telpuk, Diane Utatao, Sarah Vickers.

Graphic design U-bahn design

Print management Wellcom

Post Journal October/November 2014 1

Welcome

“We must continue to prioritise a safety culture and find ways to improve safe work practices, so we can ensure our people go home each day from work in the same condition they arrived.”

Dear colleagues,

About four years ago, we faced up to the fact that we had a real problem when it came to our safety culture. Our injury and incident rates were heading in the wrong direction and this led to horrific personal costs for our people.

Since 2010, we have made a tremendous effort in changing the safety culture at Australia Post through initiatives such as I AM FOR ZERO and Safety Time. We have introduced a critical change program to create a more mindful approach to safety; invested in the Safety Leadership program to equip our leaders with the skills they need to create the safety culture that we want; and rolled out the Focused Safety Observation Feedback program across our network.

Each of our safety initiatives has led to real change in thought and behaviour across the organisation – particularly in our network where our people face the greatest risk. This is reflected in our 2013–14 lost time injury frequency rate result of 8.0, which is a 30.4 per cent improvement on 2011–12. This is a great outcome for our people and for our business financially.

While this is a fantastic achievement, we are not yet where we want to be. There are still too many incidents and too many of our people being injured at work. We must continue to prioritise a safety culture and find ways to improve safe work practices, so we can ensure our people go home each day from work in the same condition they arrived. You can read more about what we’re doing to focus on safety from page 16 of this edition.

Annual results

Our 2013–14 safety results were released recently alongside our business results in the Australia Post Annual Report 2014. You can read about our annual results on page 10 or in the results summary included with this edition of Post Journal.

We again met all of our Community Service Obligations for 2013–14, including delivering 94.5 per cent of letters on time or early. This is a tremendous result and I want to thank you for your hard work in helping us to achieve this.

Despite the commercial challenges we have faced over the past year, we achieved an after-tax profit of $116.2 million. However, we are now seeing the impact of the accelerated decline in letter volumes and recorded an overall loss of $43 million (before the restructuring charge of $90 million pre-tax) in the second half of the year (January to June 2014). This is the first time we have made a loss in any six-month period since Australia Post was corporatised 25 years ago.

I want to assure you that despite the challenges our business is facing, we are working to create new growth opportunities and better ways to manage our costs. We are talking with our shareholder – the Government – about reforming our letters business and we have a clear strategy to grow the profitable parts of our business including parcels and retail. I am pleased to say that our parcels business made a record profit of $337.5 million this year; this will help us to continue investing heavily in building our future parcels network, integrating StarTrack, expanding our range of trusted services and building the MyPost Digital Mailbox while maintaining our post office network across the country.

As we make these changes, we are very conscious of the need to look after all of the people who have a personal stake in Australia Post. Most especially, we are intent on protecting you – our loyal and committed employees – who are the real face of our trusted brand in the Australian community. I want to thank you once again for all of your hard work and support.

It is clear, now more than ever, that continuing to do what we have done in the past will not be enough to ensure our future. So we are changing today in order to be part of tomorrow.

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

Kind regards,

Ahmed Managing Director & Group CEO

mailto:[email protected]

2 Post Journal October/November 2014

In Short

Mail run… with a difference Trying to avoid “big roos”, high-stepping emus, aristocratic brolgas, belligerent black boars and groups of not-very-fussed goats while providing commentary to tourists is all in a day’s work for Dave Hammond, arguably our most remote postie from rural Queensland.

NAIDOC Week celebrationsNational Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week is held each year in the first full week of July to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and achievements. All across the country Australia Post workplaces get involved with local NAIDOC celebrations.

The team at Dandenong Letter Centre (DLC) in Victoria has celebrated NAIDOC Week for a number of years. Prior to 2012, employees held an exhibition each year showcasing local Aboriginal artwork. Since 2012, they have been progressively painting a mural during each NAIDOC Week to line the hall of DLC’s NAIDOC gallery. The mural is an incredible 30 metres long and was painted by Aboriginal artists Wayne Wilson, April Carter, Frederik Andrews, Jo Lovett, Sandra Walsh, Andrew Hearn and Vinnie Anau. This year, the team at DLC celebrated the completion of the mural with an afternoon tea together with the artists and their families. Be sure to take a look if you are ever at the centre.

On 19 July, our Queensland Postal Services team spent the day with 11 of their Indigenous colleagues who travelled from all over Queensland, including as far as Mt Isa in the state’s north-west. The group toured various facilities, took part in NAIDOC celebrations at Musgrave Park in Brisbane’s south and attended the NAIDOC gala ball at the Brisbane Exhibition Centre. It was a great opportunity to meet new faces from across the business and celebrate the diversity of our workforce.

Adavale

Eromanga

Jundah

Budgerygar

Quilpie

Quilpie LPO

In an effort to increase local tourism to south-western Queensland, Australia Post has agreed to allow tourists to join Mail Run 77, which covers 420 kilometres over 10 hours.

“The mail run is a lifeline for people who live on these isolated properties,” Dave says. “Apart from the letters, we also deliver everything from groceries and bread to fuel and tyres.”

And the tourists clearly love the experience. In fact, the initiative has been so successful, Dave is now driving a 13-seat minivan to accommodate the demand.

The day includes morning tea at Alaric Station, lunch at Trinidad Station and an afternoon break by Kyabra Creek. The group also has the opportunity hear about the local history and talk to the farmers while Dave drops off mail and supplies at the 10 stations along his route.

“We offer the tourist service twice a week for six months until the end of October,” says Dave. “It’s too hot after that.”

As well as offering a true outback experience, it’s a perfect opportunity to demonstrate firsthand the trouble we take to ensure that mail gets to everyone in Australia, no matter how remote the location.

Above: Part of the painted mural at DLC.

Above: Dave along his run at Gunnadorah Station.

Below: The route for Mail Run 77.


Helping our furry friendsThe Heathwood Mail Centre in Queensland held a two-day cupcake extravaganza to raise funds for animals in need. Their Cupcake Day for the RSPCA event was organised by Karen Millican, with around 40 people baking some 500 cupcakes, selling raffle tickets and bargaining local businesses for raffle prizes.

Around 600 people across the two days bought cupcakes and raffle tickets, with nine raffle draws awarding vouchers, movie tickets and meat trays. The team raised $2,122.60, which was presented to RSPCA employee Zoe Black at a special event at the facility.

Presenting the cheques: Event organiser Stacey Roydhouse, Manager Heathwood

Mail Centre, with her rescue dog Seth and Karen Millican (left) and Zoe Black, Business

Partnerships RSPCA Qld, with her rescue dog Flex and PDO Debra Stinson (above).

“My West Highland Terrier, Sabrina, was our mascot for the two days,” says Karen. “It was tremendously fun for all employees and a real morale booster.”

A fundraiser was also held at 111 Bourke Street in Melbourne across levels 13 and 14. Kim Maloney, Postal Services, coordinated the event. A group of 14 bakers produced the wares and the Merchandise and Telco teams donated products for sale, with all money collected also going to the cause. Together they raised $610 – $268.85 from donations and cupcake sales and $341.15 from the sale of donated merchandise.

In Short

In Short

Local community visitsAs part of Australia Post’s engagement with the community around how we are changing, we have been hosting a number of local community visits around Australia in partnership with federal MPs to gain the community’s views on our services. The events provide Australians with the opportunity to have their say, ask questions and tell us what is important to them in a postal service.

During the visits we conduct a number of activities including “listening posts” – which are discussions held outside local post offices – and community leader lunches. The aim of these activities is to both talk to community members about the challenges Australia Post is facing and hear from the local community and community leaders about what they expect from our services now and into the future.

2014 Pollie Pedal charity ride Australia Post was the principal sponsor of the 2014 Pollie Pedal, a 1,000 kilometre charitable bike ride which raises funds for Carers Australia.

We have been all over the country and received some great feedback from places including Dysart, Middlemount (Queensland), Ballina, Gosford, Lismore, Grafton, Maclean (New South Wales), Mount Gambier, Murray Bridge (South Australia), Sale and Morwell (Victoria). We are planning many more community visits over the coming months and look forward to connecting with local Australian communities.

Beginning on Sunday 10 August in Moree, New South Wales, riders travelled through Bingara, Tamworth, Gunnedah, Coonabarabran, Dubbo, Mudgee and Katoomba on their way to the final destination of Penrith, west of Sydney, where they arrived on Sunday 17 August.

This year, nearly $700,000 was raised for the Carers Australia “work and care” initiative, which encourages employers to provide flexible working conditions for carers across the country.

We had five employees participate in the event this year along with a volunteer from one of our National Community Partners, Reclink Australia, who together made up the Australia Post Our Neighbourhood team.

Minister for Social Services, Kevin Andrews, led the event in the absence of the Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who

later joined the ride. Kevin says that he heard a number of compelling stories of courage and commitment along the journey from young people who are caring for their ill parents and older people who are looking after disabled family members.

“The event provided a unique opportunity to discuss issues ranging from the difficulties facing rural students to the plight of drought-affected farming families,” Kevin says.

Employee Debra Mortimer formed part of the Post team. “I found the Pollie Pedal to be a wonderful opportunity and a great experience to be involved in,” she says. “It was great to ride for a good cause while promoting Australia Post and networking with a wide variety of people.”

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the ride.



In Short

Introducing Chain of Responsibility ChampionsIn August, a new initiative led by the Transport Compliance team was rolled out across the Australia Post Group (APG) introducing Chain of Responsibility (CoR) Champions. CoR Champions are critical in spreading the important message of road safety and compliance throughout the organisation.

There is still a misconception that CoR is only the responsibility of the Transport team and heavy vehicle drivers. This is not the case anymore and anyone with control or influence over the supply chain may be found liable for breaches in road transport law. APG employees are part of the supply chain and we therefore all have a responsibility to take reasonable steps to ensure the safest vehicles are travelling on Australian roads.

From August to October, more than 250 employees attended CoR Champion forums nationally. Representatives from the respective enforcement agencies, including Roads and Maritime Services, attended each forum, providing advice and assisting the champions in understanding their role and the legal obligations relating to CoR. A presentation was also made at the national sales conference for all parcel sales employees on the important nature of CoR.

Champions are encouraged to take ownership of CoR to become leaders and role models in their respective areas. Champions are the first point of contact for all new information relating to CoR. However, this does not mean “more work” and they are not expected to perform the role alone as they strive to change perceptions and lead change across the organisation. Champions have the support of the management team at each facility and their fellow CoR Champions along with direct assistance from the Transport Compliance team.

CoR Champions are safety and compliance-focused people from diverse backgrounds with various skills. Working together, we can ensure that APG leads the way in safety and compliance with CoR.

We encourage you to become a CoR Champion and join a diverse and committed team. To find out more email:

[email protected]

Workforce Conversation portalJoin the discussion!Have your questions answered, share ideas and stay in the know anywhere, anytime.

Signing up is easy. Simply:

• click the “Register” button

• enter the access code 24A3d1#

• complete steps 1 to 3

• Make sure you have your APS number handy.

Receive Staff Updates and other announcements via your personal email Sign up at auspost.com.au/workforceconversation

or simply fill out the details on the back of the address sheet with this edition of Post Journal

My BenefitsTo access a range of corporate discounts and benefits visit the My Benefits website at www.appostplus.com.au (Password: Money4Keeps)

Above: Employees discussing CoR at a recent forum.


October 2014Philatelic stamp releases:Wilderness Australia; Australian Racecourses; Cocos (Keeling) Islands: Sydney-Emden Engagement; A Century of Service: The Australian Defence Force; Christmas, Christmas Island Christmas.

3 OctoberReclink “Spirit of Reclink” Awards

5 OctoberNRL Grand Final

6 OctoberLabour Day (ACT, NSW, Qld, SA)

7 October Our Neighbourhood Community Grants: Winners announced.

13 OctoberOne Netball Community Awards: Winners announced.

21 OctoberFaces of One Netball social media competition: Launch and competition opens.

November 2014Philatelic stamp releases: 2014 Collection of Australian Stamps (deluxe and executive editions); Australian Territories Collection of Stamps 2014.

3 NovemberRecreation Day (Tas)

4 NovemberMelbourne Cup Day (Vic)

23–28 NovemberSocial Inclusion Week

24 NovemberLaunch of Faces of One Netball Gallery

December 2014 January 2015 Philatelic 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 JanuaryAustralia Post authorised holiday

26 January

Events calendar

3 DecemberInternational Day of People with Disability (IDPwD): A United Nations-sanctioned day that aims to promote an understanding of people with disability and encourage support for their dignity, rights and wellbeing.

25 DecemberChristmas Day

26 December Boxing Day

Australia Day

26 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.


Did you know...?

Over a billion people live

with some form of disability. This corresponds to

about 15 per cent of the world’s population.


Business update

94.9%Service performance (domestic letters –Target 94%)

9.2retailCX score

30+Providers on MyPost Digital Mailbox

4.2Lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR)

14.1+Net Promoter Score (NPS – Target 14.8)

960,000+MyPost Concession Account holders

18.12 million Monthly average retail foot traffic

What are our customers saying?

What’s been happening?• We announced the 2014 Our Neighbourhood Community

Grant and Workforce Nominated Grant winners.

• We released the Australia Post Annual Report 2014 and the Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report 2014.

• The National Conversation portal has had more than 70,000 visitors.

• In September we conducted our third round of community discussion groups.

• We supported World Green Building Week from 22 to 27 September to promote the role that buildings play in creating a sustainable future. StarTrack House in New South Wales and our South Australian headquarters are two examples where we have taken environmental sustainability into account throughout building development.

• We helped to deliver more than 13,000 cards and presents to Hannah Sullivan, an intellectually disabled 18-year-old, after her father’s Facebook request to send her birthday wishes went viral.

• We have rolled out 3,500 additional scanners to retail outlets and more than 3,500 to rural and remote contractors, allowing us to stream more than 6.8 million parcels to posties.

• We want to congratulate Mohammed (Mo) Ibrahim, who was presented with a Comcare Work Health and Safety Award at the 2014 Comcare National Conference in Melbourne in September. The award recognises his contribution to health and safety through the role he played in piloting our Safety Leadership program, which has now been rolled out to more than 800 people across 19 facilities. Mo is now Safety Leadership Implementation Manager.

Safety updateThe year-to-date July all occupational injury frequency rate (AOIFR) result of 13.2 reflects a 21.9 per cent improvement on last year. Our lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) of 4.2 also indicates an improvement on the same time last year by 17.6 per cent.

The top three mechanisms for the year-to-date July all occupational injury claims are motorcycle accidents (40 per cent), body stress (32 per cent) and “object strikes body” (16 per cent).

Of all injury claims for year-to-date July, 32 per cent were lost time injuries; there are four fewer lost time injuries compared to last year. Motorcycle accidents account for 16 per cent of lost time injuries with “object strikes body” at 7 per cent and slips, trips and falls at 4 per cent.

“The young lady that served me was amazingly helpful and offered me many services I didn’t even know Auspost did. Will be back. Thanks.”Campbelltown Post Office, SA

Customer rating 10

“This post shop opens at 8am, so it is convenient to visit on the way to work. Hardly anyone is in this outlet that early.”Melbourne Bourke Street GPO, Vic

Customer rating 10

“Girls are always friendly. Wait time is sometimes long. But mostly due to only having two checkouts, not a staff fault.”Harvey Post Office, WA Customer rating 9

Post Journal October/November 20148

What’s happening

Changes in our letters business present opportunities for our people

With one billion fewer letters being sent today compared to 2008, it’s essential that we continue to change and adapt our operations in line with the needs of our customers. While we can’t stop the global trend that has led to the decline in letters, we’re working hard to make our letters business more sustainable.

Our customers continue to respond favourably to the improved business letter timetables that came into effect on 2 June. At the end of August, 60.2 per cent of all total addressed mail was already being sent at the slower speed.

Peter Bass, General Manager Mail Network and Postal Safety, says the customer uptake of the slower-speed product is changing our workflows and the times that mail is available to be processed.

“With many of our customers opting for the slower speed business letter timetable, there are now more letters available to be processed during the day,” Peter says. “This means we are making changes as required at a local level across our national network.

“Our workflows look different in each of our mail centres, so we are beginning to work with our employees on how we align our staffing locally, based on local production plans – this has already begun in some states.

“In those locations it has provided us with the opportunity to accommodate requests from our employees who wish to move to day shift.”

Zenaida Gamo is a mail officer at Sydney West Letters Facility (SWLF). She has worked at Australia Post for 17 years and recently transferred from afternoon to day shift.

“For 15 years I worked on the afternoon shift where most days I started at 4pm and got home close to midnight,”

says Zenaida. “I had been on a waiting list to move to day shift so I could be home with my family in the evenings.

“Our customers appear to be pleased with our new letters service. I’ve seen firsthand that we are now busier processing mail during the day. It makes me feel very proud to be part of a business where we are listening to what our customers want.

“It’s also fantastic that employees who were on night shift have the chance to move to day shift. It’s made such a big difference to my life as now I start at 8am and get home in time to cook dinner for my family or spend time with friends.

“Since moving to the 8am shift, I’ve also been given the opportunity to be acting team leader. I’m really enjoying learning more about our business and working with my new team who are all friendly, hardworking and supportive.”

Above (left to right): Stephanie Sang Phan, Tien Thi Bich Nguyen, Sarbjit Kaur, Zenaida Gamo, Darren To, Haritono Darmawan, Dinna Sison and Navneet Mangat.

“It’s fantastic to be given the opportunity to work day shift as I can now spend more time with my family

and friends.”

Zenaida Gamo


What’s happeningWe’re making Christmas easier for our customersEvery year, we’re proud to be trusted by Australian businesses and consumers to deliver products and gifts across Australia in time for Christmas. We don’t take this responsibility lightly and draw on our collective efforts across Australia Post to make it happen.

Our Christmas 2014 service offering includes:

• parcel deliveries to households on weekends (late November/December)

• extended Saturday post office hours (November) and weekday extended hours (December)

• extended opening hours for parcel collections at post offices (December)

• extended operating hours for customer contact centres (December)

• greater access to a range of services and parcel delivery choices for customers through the launch of MyPost Deliveries (November)

• increased parcel processing capacity (November)

• the promotion of Express Post as the preferred delivery method

• additional collections from Gold Boxes and post offices from Monday to Friday to maximise Express Post collections (December)

• a pre-Christmas delivery promise for regular parcels based on cut-off dates (December)

• additional transport collections for selected parcel customers (November/December).

In preparation, we’ll also be supported by Christmas casuals and calling on volunteers across the organisation.

Volunteering Administrative employees are encouraged to spend time in December working alongside their operational colleagues to ensure we again deliver another great Christmas for our customers. This is a fantastic opportunity for some hands-on collaboration with operational colleagues and to learn more about our vibrant and complex business. Shifts will be available in facilities, business hubs and post offices throughout December. Further information about available shifts and the registration process will be advertised on Pogo and via a Staff Update.

StarTrack customers

StarTrack customers will also receive good cheer this festive season. Our Express Operations and StarTrack Customer Contact Centre will help our customers deliver more this Christmas through:

• greater capacity to move freight faster – to ensure products reach customers on time this Christmas we have invested in expanding our freight processing depots in Sydney and Melbourne

• more StarTrack vehicles on the road – we are increasing our fleet capacity by around 25 per cent at our major depots on weekdays

• more hands on deck – selected depots will have additional resources and earlier pick-ups so that businesses can get their products into customers’ hands sooner.

Santa MailEncourage any children you know to write their letter to Santa as early as possible to ensure they receive a response. Send letters to:

Santa Mail North Pole, 9999

And don’t forget to include a stamp!

Christmas cut-off datesThe cut-off dates for mail delivery in time for Christmas vary according to destination (domestic or international) and type of postage chosen.

For the latest information on Christmas delivery dates, visit auspost.com.au/Christmas


Your Post is evolving Australia Post Annual Report 2014The Australia Post Annual Report 2014 reflects a year of significant challenge and change as we continue to adapt our business in order to stay relevant to our customers.

We achieved significant milestones in realising our growth and performance opportunities in 2013–14, the final year of our Future Ready program. This year’s report highlights how we are transforming our network and investing in new services that our customers want and need, while staying true to our purpose in the community – to help everyone, everywhere, every day.

For the fourteenth year in a row, we exceeded all of our Community Service Obligation (CSO) targets. We also delivered 94.5 per cent of letters on time or early (ahead of our 94 per cent target) and maintained 4,417 post offices nationwide (well above the target of 4,000). However, the cost of meeting our CSOs is becoming unsustainable as we deliver significantly less letters to more delivery points. The cost of meeting our CSOs this year was estimated to be $203.5 million, up 17 per cent.

CSO performance standards TargetActual

2013–14

Retail outlets

Total

Rural and remote areas

4,000

2,500

4,417

2,560

Street posting boxes 10,000 15,805

On-time delivery (domestic letters) 94.0% 94.5%

Addresses receiving delivery

Five days a week

At least twice a week

98.0%

99.7%

98.8%

99.9%

In line with expectations, the continued decline in mail volumes pushed our overall business into a second-half loss – the first time that our business has made a loss in any six-month period since corporatisation in 1989. Our full-year profit after tax was $116.2 million, down 34.5 per cent on last year.

“This indicates that we have now reached a turning point where we can no longer expect profits from our competitive parcels business to offset the growing losses that we are incurring in the highly regulated letters business,” says Managing Director & Group CEO, Ahmed Fahour. As a result we are now actively seeking permission from the government to change our letters services, prices and operations.

We must evolve to stay relevant to our customers. To do this, we are changing and improving our services while reforming our letters business and investing in our parcels network. We’re constantly expanding our range of trusted services, including payments processing, financial services, identity verification, travel and government services. In addition, we’re giving our customers new and convenient ways of accessing these services – both physically through our post offices, and digitally through our website, mobile apps and, now, MyPost Digital Mailbox. This year, we invested $523.1 million in our assets and strategic transformation projects, which is the largest capital expenditure program in Australia Post’s history.

Having elevated StarTrack as one of our two core brands, our Parcel Services business again performed strongly in an increasingly competitive market, posting a $337.5 million operating EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes), up 20.8 per cent on last year. This is the fourth consecutive year of growth for our parcels business, which has doubled in profit since 2010.

Underpinning this result was a domestic parcel volume growth of 12.8 per cent and yet another outstanding parcels service delivery result of 97.8 per cent. Alongside outstanding customer service, we are focused on providing competitive ecommerce-driven logistics and delivery solutions to support the online shopping boom. This year we invested heavily in expanding our parcel facilities and, as part of our focus on customer convenience, will introduce Saturday delivery options for our parcel and Express Post services this Christmas.

Our Retail Services division earned a profit of $175.6 million for 2013–14, which is in line with last year’s result. This year’s retail customer satisfaction results showed consistent improvement across all measures, as highlighted by a record 9.14 out of 10 retail customer satisfaction score (2014 retailCX Survey).

Despite the challenges of digitisation and changing customer preferences, Australia Post continues to play a pivotal role in smaller and more isolated communities where advocacy and use of our services are at their highest. We invested in a number of financial and technological measures – such as increased payments to post office operators and new point-of-sale technology – to help licensees grow their revenue streams while providing communities with access to more important, everyday services. Once we deliver on our commitment to expand to Saturday trading this November, there will be around 2,300 post offices providing easier, more convenient access to our trusted services six days a week.

Above centre: Australia Post Bourke Street Superstore Postal Manager, Anthony Allwood, explains the benefits of the new MyPost Concession Account to customer Valy Crowe.

Right: Dick Smith Camberwell Store Manager, Geoff Mortimer, accepts a delivery from StarTrack driver, Van Nguyen.

Post feature


This year we strengthened our digital infrastructure to make it easier for our customers to transact and connect simply and securely online. We also added a range of new trusted services available in store and online – notably, our travel solutions. This continued to deliver strong returns while MyPost Digital Mailbox continues to build momentum with more than 30 providers now on board.

Results snapshotWhile the challenges for our organisation remain real and imminent, this year we achieved many important milestones that we can all be proud of:

• continued improvements in our safety performance, demonstrating the sustained benefits of our safety strategy with fewer workplace injuries and a further 2.4 per cent reduction in our lost time injury frequency rate since last year

• launched Post People 1st to protect, prioritise and support our people through training and re-skilling to develop their capability and experience

• further integrated our parcel operations and services to create Australia’s largest parcels and logistics network

• preserved our reputation as a trusted service provider, maintaining our ranking as the second most reputable brand in Australia

• established the MyPost Concession Account, which freezes the cost of basic postage at 60 cents for Australia’s 5.7 million federal government concession card holders for the next three years

• exceeded all customer service indicators and achieved a combined Net Promoter Score of 13.6 (up 2.8 points)

Your Post is evolving by:• building world-class delivery, supply chain and ecommerce

solutions for businesses

• developing the post office and our digital services to support the everyday essentials of citizens and small business owners, including a special focus on rural and regional communities

• enabling governments and corporations to connect with their customers online as well as through our postal network

• helping our people and partners feel safe and supported so that they can have fulfilling jobs and businesses that serve our customers well.

• built better neighbourhoods across Australia through Our Neighbourhood, which brings to life our commitment to the community beyond our services and our role as a large employer of people

• reduced Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by a further 6.9 per cent, delivering better environmental outcomes as well as cost savings

• launched the Australia Post National Conversation portal to engage the Australian community in a conversation about our future.

Although we are facing aggressive competition from other parcel and logistics providers, and there is an ongoing shift in the community’s use of our services, we can be optimistic about our ability to sustain Australia Post’s role as a trusted organisation. Our focus is to invest and innovate to ensure we can compete on price and continue to offer our customers exceptional levels of service.

As we deliver on our purpose to help communities work better and prosper, we’re doing this with the needs of our people, our customers and communities at the core of every decision and action we make.

“I want to sincerely thank everyone for your contribution to our great business – and for your daily commitment to serving our customers and the Australian community,” Ahmed says.

Read the full annual report online at auspost.com.au/annualreport2014

Post feature


Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report 2014For Australia Post, diversity is about giving all of our people a fair go by encouraging an inclusive and respectful culture.

Promoting diversity and inclusion is not only the right thing to do, it makes good business sense. A truly diverse Australia Post will enable us to better connect with our customers and the community, foster greater innovation, improve employee engagement and increase our overall business performance.

The Australia Post Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report 2014 showcases the continued development and delivery of a range of diversity programs and initiatives focused on building and leveraging a workforce that truly reflects the customers and communities we serve.

According to our recent say2action survey results, 70 per cent of our workforce believe that Australia Post values diversity.This compares to the Australia and New Zealand benchmark of 69 per cent, confirming that our investment in diversity is having a positive impact.

Our year in reviewWhile we define diversity in the broadest sense possible, we formally measure and track our progress against four indicators: gender, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD) and people with disability.

Our aim is to maintain, and where possible increase, our current diversity levels. While this remains a challenging task, there is much to celebrate as we look back on our achievements over the past 12 months.

Gender – building our female talent pipelineThis year we continued to invest in best-practice gender diversity initiatives for our female employees in both operational and non-operational roles. This resulted in an overall increase in the percentage of women holding management roles. From June 2013 to June 2014 we have seen an increase in the proportion of females in the following roles:

• delivery managers: from 14.2% to 19.9%

• facility managers: from 21.2% to 25.3%

• executives: from 33.3% to 34.1%.

According to our recent say2action survey results, 70 per cent of our workforce believe that Australia Post values diversity. Highlights

• Launched the Horizon program – designed to accelerate our high-potential female leaders into general manager roles, with 17 women currently participating.

• tenprogram – the pilot program concluded in December last year. Of the 10 women who participated,

eight had progressed into more senior or expanded roles by 30 June.

• Xplore leadership and career management program – following the successful launch in 2012, the program was extended to include emerging leaders in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

• my mentor – this year 476 of our award-level female employees participated in the program – the largest

participant intake since the program began.

Post feature

Above: Faces of the 2014 RAP Kylie Kamikamica and Benjamin Bicknell.


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians Our third Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) was launched during National Reconciliation Week in May and we celebrated 25 years of formal commitment to improving the social and economic wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. As at 30 June, we employed 493 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and trainees, representing 1.5 per cent of our workforce.

As part of our new RAP, we have made a three-year commitment to increase our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce representation to 2.5 per cent, which reflects the national population.

Highlights

• Launched our third Reconciliation Action Plan – we have committed to a series of actions relating to building relationships, enhancing respect and improving opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander base-grade recruitment campaign – we have re-engineered how we recruit by engaging Vocational Training and Employment Centres (VTEC) to help candidates better prepare to meet our selection criteria.

• Employment through Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traineeship program – this program has expanded to become a national program and now, for the first time, includes adult traineeships (full time and part time).

• rapup newsletter – now in its second year, the newsletter is a valuable means of providing regular communication to our geographically dispersed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.

Culturally and linguistically diverseThe cultural diversity of our workforce continues to be one of our greatest strengths and is at the heart of who we are. More than 7,400 of our employees are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. According to our recent say2action results, 74 per cent of our CALD employees feel that Australia Post values diversity (compared to our overall score of 70 per cent).

Our diversity profile• 1.5% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

• 38.9% women

• 23.0% people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds

• 6.9% people with disability

Post feature

Highlights

• A Taste of Harmony – almost 10,000 employees celebrated around the country by sharing food, music and songs from different cultures and wearing national dress.

• Ucan2 mentoring and employment – this year 13 employees participated as mentors over an eight-month period for young people from a refugee background.

• AFL Multicultural Ambassadors – our ambassadors celebrated the AFL Multicultural Round, visited schools, community groups, football carnivals and our workplaces and participated in a school letter-writing program.

People with disabilitySince the implementation of our Accessibility Action Plan in 2012, we have continued to improve accessibility for people with disability, who represent 6.9 per cent of our workforce (2,249 employees). In December last year we launched the Real Stories project, an employee engagement campaign designed to build awareness, focus on abilities rather than disability and empower employees to feel more confident working with their colleagues with disability.

Highlights

• The Real Stories disability awareness campaign – launched with a call for positive stories of inclusion in the workplace. Samantha Ford and Sarah Vickers wrote the winning stories about a remarkable man named Charlie McConnell, a customer care consultant from Sydney Parcel Facility.

• Launch of Work Mate short film – with funding won through the National Disability Employment Initiative, a short film inspired by Charlie McConnell’s story was produced and is now available as a disability awareness training resource.

• Stepping Into … university internship program – provides practical work experience for talented students with disability.

Above: Employees enjoying A Taste of Harmony celebrations.

Above: Postie Caroline Browne from the Leightonfield Delivery Facility in New South Wales.


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traineeship programAs part of our Reconciliation Action Plan, we are committed to providing meaningful careers and contributing to improve the social and economic wellbeing of the broader Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

We have partnered with AFL SportsReady and Maxima Group to provide work placements for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across our business. This includes full training and on-the-job experience which can be applied to the trainees’ studies towards a Certificate II and III in Business.

“This is a vitally important program that aims to expose the trainees to exceptional training and quality work experiences, with a long-term view towards creating jobs,” says Lee Hinton, Indigenous Employment Consultant NSW/ACT.

Lauren Hudson, Shayla Franks and Sarah Ross (pictured above, left to right) are three new retail employees who have graduated from the traineeship program. Building on their natural abilities, the traineeship has set them up for future success in providing trusted services to the community.

“Leaving school I struggled to find employment,” says Sarah. “Everyone wanted experience but no one wanted to give me any. That’s where the Aboriginal traineeship really helped me. Australia Post was willing to give me a go and this helped build my confidence.”

Christine Walker, Area Manager, Retail Sales & Service NSW/ACT, has seen firsthand the benefits of the traineeship in her network. “To see these young women develop and flourish during the traineeship was just wonderful,” she says. “They were enthusiastic with a real ‘can do’ attitude.”

We are now looking for more talented and motivated Indigenous people who want to kickstart their careers in our retail business.

For more information contact [email protected]

Become a Pyjama AngelA number of our employees have trained to become Pyjama Angels in support of one of our National Community Partners, the Pyjama Foundation. The Pyjama Foundation offers a learning-based mentoring initiative for children in foster or statutory care. Children are matched with a volunteer Pyjama Angel who will go through activities such as reading, playing games, doing crafts or just talking. Volunteers are screened to ensure they are suitable to fulfil the role of Pyjama Angel, which involves completing an application, a face-to-face interview, referee checks and training.

To find out more or to get involved visit: www.thepyjamafoundation.com

National Recycling WeekWant to get rid of your old mobile phone or used printer cartridges but don’t know how? Why not get involved in National Recycling Week (10–16 November) and take advantage of our in-store recycling programs. We have long-term relationships with both Planet Ark and MobileMuster and collect printer cartridges and mobile phones for recycling through our national post office network.

Find out what else you can do in your own workplace:

www.recyclingweek.planetark.org

Launching Good SpenderAustralia Post and Social Traders will soon launch an exciting new initiative, Good Spender – an online marketplace dedicated to connecting social enterprises with consumers who want to make a difference.

Good Spender allows online shoppers to interact with Australian social enterprises and support them by purchasing their high-quality and often unique products.

Social enterprises are businesses that sell goods and services for the benefit of the community. Buying from a social enterprise means you are directly supporting the social purpose of that organisation.

Find out more at www.goodspender.com.au

Community

http://www.recyclingweek.planetark.org

http://www.goodspender.com.au


Our Neighbourhood grants awardedMore than 100 Australian community organisations have been awarded funds through this year’s Our Neighbourhood Community and Workforce Nominated Grants program for projects that improve local neighbourhoods and support those in need.

The successful organisations were chosen for helping the local community and reflecting the Our Neighbourhood Community Grants criteria of building healthier, more vibrant and more inclusive communities.

This is the first year that successful grant recipients were funded by both Australia Post and the Our Neighbourhood Trust. The trust is a public charitable fund set up by Australia Post to help those less fortunate.

“The Tech SmartSeniors digital literacy project really appealed to me as it is designed to connect older generations to a new source of community information sharing, in particular those of a culturally and linguistically diverse background.”Australia Post Managing Director & Group CEO, Ahmed Fahour, says the Our Neighbourhood Community Grants program was established to recognise and reward organisations that, like Australia Post, help people everywhere and every day so their communities work better and can prosper.

“Since launching Our Neighbourhood Community Grants in 2013, we’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response from thousands of organisations doing some really important work in their local communities,” Ahmed says.

“We are thrilled to award funding to this year’s successful organisations and congratulate them on their tireless efforts and commitment to their respective causes.”

Our Neighbourhood Community and Workforce Nominated Grants were awarded based on the following focus areas:

• projects that connect and/or educate regional and remote communities digitally

• projects that support the start-up of small businesses in regional and remote communities through technology

• projects that support social enterprises to increase employment opportunities for marginalised Australians

• projects that foster community spirit through connecting and supporting marginalised Australians

• projects that support communities to be better prepared for a disaster.

All unsuccessful grant applicants will be invited to participate in a “strategic grants” webinar to gain feedback and advice on how to develop grant-ready project plans to improve their chances for future grant applications.

Some of the grant recipients have been connected with two of our National Community Partners – digital inclusion grant recipients have the opportunity to work with Infoxchange and social enterprise grant recipients with Social Traders.

We once again asked our employees to nominate for an Our Neighbourhood Workforce Nominated Community Grant, where a community organisation with which they have a direct connection could receive up to $10,000.

George Pilovski nominated the Macedonian Community Welfare Association (MCWA) and was successful in his nomination.

“The Tech SmartSeniors digital literacy project really appealed to me as it is designed to connect older generations to a new source of community information sharing, in particular those of a culturally and linguistically diverse background,” George says. “MCWA’s project sparked my interest through the interactive and innovative approach to engaging elderly members of the community in digital literacy.”

To learn more about Our Neighbourhood, how to donate to the Our Neighbourhood Trust and to view the 2014 grant winners, visit:

ourneighbourhood.com.au

Grant recipient, Macedonian Community Welfare Association (MCWA), is targeting culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups who have a lack of knowledge and understanding of technology, particularly among the elderly. The grant will fund a six-part program that includes digital literacy workshops for senior citizens across Victoria.

The workshops will connect and educate participants in a comfortable and safe environment. They will be interactive, hands-on and motivational and will provide access to new sources of information, social networks and a world of new entertainment.

MCWA will also produce an online registry to ensure participants remain connected to online resources.

Community

Above: MCWA’s Tech SmartSeniors program in action.

http://www.ourneighbourhood.com.au


Safety: our number one priority

Building a safe networkThe Future Parcels Network program is a case study in ensuring that safety is the first consideration in every decision we make.

Stephen Hehir, Manager Technical Safety, is a key member of the team responsible for the design of our new Future Parcels Network infrastructure. Close collaboration between Enterprise Safety and the program team was a non-negotiable to ensure a safety-first design.

“When we first started thinking about how our new facilities would work, we all agreed that safety would be paramount,” Stephen says. “As one of our key guiding principles, safety was considered from the initial scope of the program through to design and testing, the implementation of new parcel sorting automation and work processes.”

Reducing forklift and truck movements “Around 1.4 kilometres of ULD handling systems move ULDs around the facilities, meaning forklifts only need to load ULDs into the machine for processing and remove them at the other end for transport to their destination,” Stephen says. “This allows us to generally restrict forklifts to defined areas well away from pedestrians. We have also added ULD de-stackers, reducing forklift movements as drivers can load two ULDs at a time.”

Reducing manual handling “Our new equipment loads around 50 per cent of parcels – those less than two kilograms and of certain sizes – directly into ULDs,” says Stephen. “This means there is no manual lifting or throwing. Some other manual lifting tasks have been replaced by the use of vacuum lifters.

“Our attention to manual-handling risks is industry leading. We have had detailed ergonomic assessments completed to ensure the risk of sprains and strains is minimised. Our people will notice a significant change in the safety arrangements for manual handling when they move in.”

Separating pedestrians from load-shifting equipment “We have separated pedestrians from high-volume forklift operations by adding overhead walkways across the forklift pathways,” he says. “Barrier rails and other protective equipment are provided where there are pedestrian pathways near forklifts. This is industry best practice and allows forklifts to work unobstructed and more efficiently.”

Minimising the risk of falls from height “A lot of parcel sorting equipment is overhead, which previously required ladders, cherry-pickers and elevating platform vehicles to access,” says Stephen. “We’ve added work platforms to reduce fall risks and improve maintenance efficiency – again, this is best practice. There’s around 8,000 square metres of platform in Sydney Parcel Facility and more than 5,000 at Melbourne Parcel Facility.

“Our approach of ‘safety by design’ has significantly reduced the risk of injury to our employees, which was always our number one priority. What’s been really interesting to us has been the customer reactions to our approach to safety – in short, they’re excited. In an environment of significant competition, our commitment to our people’s safety is seen as beneficial, and therefore, a strong differentiator and selling point.”

Left: Stephen (front) showcasing the safety features of the new equipment.

Above: The new vacuum lifters will help to reduce strain injuries from lifting heavy parcels.


Business hubs safety workshop

Our business hubs are unique in that they bring together transport, delivery and sales in the one convenient location. However, this colocation of functions can mean that teams are more likely to be exposed to a range of potential safety issues; from manual lifting through to vehicle incidents.

Andrew Karzons, Manager Strategy, Operations & Program, Business Hubs, says that the wide range of potential exposures led to a new approach to tackle some of the more common issues.

“While we’ve made improvements in safety, we are always committed to doing more. The safety of our people is our number one priority,” says Andrew. “We engaged the Business Efficiency team to help us make the workplace safer using Kaizen processes.”

Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning “good change”. The 10-step method is used to examine how routine processes can produce better outcomes when you identify waste, remove steps that do not add value and develop solutions that eliminate the root cause of any problem.

“The Business Efficiency team, which included Elizabeth Malisz, Peter Willoughby and Fabiola Soto, analysed historical safety data to confirm the more common incidents,” Andrew says. “This led to us identifying our top five safety issues.

“This information was then overlaid against the typical activities of a van driver, starting from entering the vehicle to start work, loading parcels in the van, removing parcels and making deliveries and all the typical activities in between, including multiple vehicle entries and exits.

“This showed us when drivers are at the most risk of injury. We then split into teams with each team trying to identify ways to stop drivers putting themselves in harm’s way.”

The workshops helped to develop recommended fixes to combat the top five incidents and five of these have been endorsed by Rebecca Burrows, General Manager Business Hubs. The next step is to understand how these actions can be implemented across our workforce.

“The Kaizen workshops, facilitated by Business Efficiency, involved people from business hubs including managers, health and safety representatives and drivers as well as the Safety team,” Andrew says. “The collaboration and safety focus of everyone was great to see and be part of. We’re really looking forward to the next steps in getting these recommendations approved and endorsed so that we can make our people even safer when at work.”

Special thanks to the project leads for their safety focus including Christian McDougall, Kevin Stawpert, Daniel Esdaile, Michael Lee and Tony Bucci.

Kaizen in action – entering and exiting your vehicleThe safest way to enter a van is to maintain three points of contact – doing this can reduce the number of incidents occurring. One of the recommendations from the Kaizen workshops was to identify where a driver should place their hands and feet when entering a van and paint 1, 2 and 3 – or hands and feet – on these places. These can then be used as visual clues to ensure that drivers perform the process in a safe manner.


Did you know...?Kaizen was first used in several Japanese

businesses after World War II, influenced in part by

American business and quality management teachers who visited Japan.

Above: Employees learning Kaizen techniques at a recent workshop.


Did you know...?

Since we launched Safety Time in 2011, our lost time injury

frequency rate (LTIFR) has improved by 30.4 per cent.


Safety Time 2014 “Permission to Pause”

We are now in the middle of our fourth annual Safety Time campaign, which commenced on Monday 6 October. Launched in 2011, Safety Time coincides with Safe Work Australia Month and the start of our peak Christmas period.

Employees across Australia Post have been “downing tools” to attend team workshops and take part in meaningful conversations about the improvement of safety within their workplaces. This year we’re pleased to welcome our colleagues from StarTrack, Decipha, SecurePay and MyPost Digital Mailbox to participate in Safety Time for the first time.

This year’s Safety Time workshops are focused on the theme of Permission to Pause, a concept that we introduced you to in the September 2014 edition of Post Journal.

Permission to Pause aims to encourage a culture where the safety of the individual or team is put above all other decisions, so that it’s an accepted – and expected – practice to pause work if there is any kind of safety concern.

Safety Time will run until Friday 31 October and you would have been invited to attend and contribute to a team workshop. At the workshop, you will discuss what Permission to Pause means to your team in your workplace, so we encourage you to have your say and raise any concerns you have.

Here are two examples where our people have felt there was a safety risk and paused to prevent an incident.



Permission to Pause at Adelaide Parcel Facility, South AustraliaAt Adelaide Parcel Facility, forklift operator David Ellul was loading a truck with ULDs filled with parcels. As he placed the end ULD on the truck he noticed that the truck driver was hurrying towards the truck outside of the required five-metre exclusion zone between all pedestrians and load-shifting equipment.

David stopped the forklift, lowered the load and reminded the driver of the danger in not respecting the required five-metre exclusion zone.

The driver explained that he felt under pressure to get back on the road as there were trucks lined up out of the facility and he didn’t want to keep them waiting. David explained to the driver that their mutual safety came before the trucks waiting on the road and encouraged him to follow the correct safety procedures.

Left: A forklift in operation at the Adelaide Parcel Facility.

Permission to Pause at Orange Delivery Centre, New South WalesThe town of Orange experienced some exceptionally cold conditions this winter with patches of black ice on roads and footpaths. This greatly increased the risk of skidding and having an accident due to the loss of traction.

As parcel delivery officers (PDOs) sorted their rounds, Orange Delivery Centre (DC) Delivery Manager, Cesare Milan, regularly reviewed weather conditions by looking outside, having conversations with the PDOs and team leaders and checking updated weather reports on his smart phone app.

Cesare pulled his team together for a safety huddle and made it clear that employees were empowered to regularly review the weather; if they felt conditions were unsafe, they would be supported in their decision to pause delivery.

As the morning went on and the sun came out, conditions improved and melted the ice, so in the end there was no need to delay deliveries. However, Cesare’s discussions with his team demonstrated that the health and safety of PDOs at Orange DC is of primary importance.

Remember, promoting and protecting the safety of all our people is our number one priority. Our vision is for a workplace where there is zero harm, zero injuries and zero unsafe acts. If you feel that safety is ever a concern, pause to ask questions and discuss the situation with your colleagues and a manager or supervisor.

Cesare had given his team permission to pause. In this case, that meant continually monitoring and reviewing weather conditions while they were on the road doing their job and pausing for safety concerns if they felt it was needed.

PDO Peter Hodgins says the conditions on the day were potentially hazardous. “I was amazed at how much the concrete had iced up,” Peter says. “Despite the conditions improving, I felt supported by my manager to delay delivery if I felt my safety was at risk.”

If you have any other examples that you would like to share of where you or your colleagues have acted on Permission to Pause and put safety first, please email

[email protected]

Above: Peter Hodgins, PDO at the Orange Delivery Centre.




Safety tips for you at workAustralia Post has a diverse workforce and a range of working environments, from operations and parcel delivery to office and retail – all with their own potential safety hazards.

It is important that you leave work in the same condition that you arrived. So keep yourself and your colleagues safe by understanding the safety risks and potential hazards that you face in your particular work environment and follow the safety procedures relevant at your worksite. This includes wearing the right uniform and personal protection equipment, knowing your evacuation procedures and who your safety and first aid representatives are. After all, prevention is better than cure.

Here are some more tips to help you stay safe – and healthy.

Working in a retail outlet • Ensure that floor stands and fixtures are positioned

so that aisles are clear.

• Ensure customers can safely move around your outlet – regularly clean and tidy shelves and ensure there is nothing on the floor that could be a hazard.

• Store all parcels safely – ensure they won’t cause a tripping hazard.

• Assume all parcels are heavy until you have performed a test lift – if you think the parcel is heavy, place a “heavy parcel” sticker on top, always lift from your knees and seek assistance where required.

• Safely put away items after use and parcels when received.

• Check that all cables are correctly plugged in, there are no loose or damaged wires and the counter area is kept free of clutter.

Handling mail and parcels in a facility• Assume all parcels are heavy until you have performed

a test lift – if you think the parcel is heavy, place a “heavy parcel” sticker on top, always lift from your knees and seek assistance where required. If possible, write the weight of the parcel on the sticker to assist colleagues in the parcel stream who will also handle the parcel.

• Stretch regularly – be sure to partake in the safety stretches at the beginning of your shift and stretch again throughout the day.

• Do not touch any suspect items – if you see an item that is leaking, has a strange smell or looks suspicious call your supervisor immediately.

• Keep to the designated areas and follow the floor traffic management plan – look out for load-shifting equipment if you are walking around the facility and keep an eye out for pedestrians if you are operating machinery.

• Familiarise yourself with the Lock-Out, Tag-Out (LOTO) policy to avoid injury and damage to equipment.

Driving our trucks• Be sure to take regular breaks if you are driving long

distances and follow the policies related to shift duration, rest breaks and rest facilities.

• Ensure you keep three points of contact when getting in and out of your vehicle.

• Ensure your vehicle is regularly serviced and conduct your pre-departure checks daily.

• Be cautious of other vehicles on the road – particularly on high-speed freeways or through residential areas.

• Keep healthy snacks on hand, such as fruit or nuts, to ensure you are adequately fuelling your body on long-haul routes.

“I’ve learned that safety is not about a one-off

change but about continuous improvement and engagement. Safety shouldn’t be seen as a negative, but as an opportunity

to embed it into our everyday work culture and lifestyle.”

Justin Conag, Engineering Services – Help Desk, Dandenong Letter

Centre, Victoria



Delivering mail and parcels to our customers• Correctly load your mail and parcels items – do not

overcrowd your bike or van and ensure items are sitting/facing the correct way.

• Watch for pedestrians and other vehicles – look around, use your mirrors and drive cautiously in built-up areas.

• Ensure you keep three points of contact when getting in and out of your vehicle and always dismount and mount your bike safely.

• Never attempt delivery when you believe it is unsafe to do so – report any hazards to your manager at the delivery centre.

• If you are approached by a stray dog, carefully slow and dismount your bike. Stray animals should be reported to the local council as the responsible authority for animal management.

• Reversing cars are a big hazard in the delivery environment – be alert and approach driveways with caution.

Servicing our equipment• Familiarise yourself with the Lock-Out, Tag-Out (LOTO)

policy to avoid injury and damage to equipment.

• Complete a job safety analysis for tasks not already covered by safe work instructions. This provides you with the opportunity to stop and think about the work to be done and identify and control potential hazards.

• When working in awkward or cramped positions ensure you have some support to avoid injury from sharp edges – wear a bump hat where a head injury is possible.

• Ask another team member to help you lift any heavy items.

• Position safety barriers around your work area to keep others clear and safe and ensure you are not exposed to traffic.

General safety tips around your workplace• Make sure your computer and chair are set at a

comfortable height. Tips on the best set-up for your workstation can be found on Pogo – search for “workstation set-up”.

• Sit up straight while you’re at your desk to avoid shoulder and back injuries.

• Get up from your desk every now and then or take a break from the computer screen to avoid conditions such as deep vein thrombosis or eye strain.

• Arrange your desk so that regularly used items are close to you.

• Stretch regularly to avoid tiredness, stiffness or discomfort.

• Be mindful when you are walking – mobile phone distraction contributes to one in three office slips, trips and falls (ACI Health).

Tips for your overall health and wellbeing• Drink plenty of water – at least eight glasses per day

is recommended to keep you adequately hydrated.

• Get at least seven to nine hours of sleep each night – we all function better when we are well-rested.

• Eat a balanced diet – eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and limit your intake of processed foods.

• Limit your alcohol intake – try to make sure you have at least two alcohol-free nights per week.

• Regularly visit your doctor for a check-up – keeping an eye on your physical and mental health can potentially help to diagnose any issues early.

• Exercise regularly – join a local sporting competition or check the community notice board for events or competitions you can get involved in.

• Maintain a work–life balance – ensure you partake in activities outside of work each week that make you happy, such as dedicating time to a hobby or spending time with family and friends.

• If you are unwell, stay home – your friends and colleagues do not want to contract your illness and you will recover faster if you rest.

For more information on safety at your workplace, or if you have an idea to improve our safety, email:

[email protected]



Post People 1st

Have you put yourself first lately?At Australia Post, we’re putting our people first for job opportunities, new skills and career development. Are you doing the same for yourself? One way you can do this is to spend some time working out what you want. Whether that be learning new skills to be able to take the next step in your career or new skills for life, Post People 1st (PP1st) can help by giving you access to education, training and skill development.

Take 10 minutes for youSo many of us are time poor. The beauty of PP1st is that all courses allow you to go in and out at any time, as many times as you like. Courses are broken down into small modules to make it convenient for your lifestyle.

In 10 minutes you can check out the modules and get a feel for what interests you. In 15 to 20 minutes you can complete a module. So next time you make yourself a tea or coffee at home, go online and take a look.

MyLearningHub: access free skills to build your careerMany of you would have used FutureSkills, a range of online programs available to award-level employees. We’ve expanded the resource to provide you with access to more programs and more choices under a new name: MyLearningHub.

MyLearningHub gives you free access to a range of books, courses and short videos, all accessible from home, and you don’t need permission to take advantage of them.

There are three career management modules you can explore. My Career helps you identify your motivators and strengths; your transferable skills; how to market yourself and your own personal “brand”; and how to tap into job networks – both inside and outside of Post. My Application covers how to write a resumé; the purpose of a cover letter; what selection criteria are; and how you meet them. My Interview covers the importance of good preparation and some tips and tricks for face-to-face interviews.

There are modules to help you develop a range of business skills, from foundation to advanced levels. Course topics include English language literacy, communication, project management, sales and service, administration, operations management, small business and more.

We’ve expanded the resource to provide you with access to more programs and more choices under a new name: MyLearningHub. You can also develop your computer skills, with more than 150 desktop computer courses and 990 instructional software videos across the Microsoft Office suite (including Word, Excel and PowerPoint), Google Apps training, graphics and illustration or web design.

To access MyLearningHub:

1. Go to auspost.com.au/ PP1st

2. Log on to MyLearningHub (right-hand side menu)

3. Enter your APS number

4. Enter the password “welcome”.

Did you know...?

For award-level employees PP1st

courses are available online 24/7 and are

free to access.


2,245Jobs filled byinternal applicants

More than

1 in 2 jobsfilled by Post people

That’s

61.5per centof jobs filled byinternal applicants

For the six months from1 March to 31 August 2014we’ve had:

3,651Jobs filled

For internal applicants who miss out, support isavailable through a PP1st career coach.

Post People 1st

New online courses from November

Create Your Future The Create Your Future course provides you with help to start planning for retirement or a later-in-life career change. It’s about planning for all aspects of your life – not just your finances – and may challenge the assumptions you have about career and retirement.

You’ll identify practical steps you can take right now to create the future you want.

The course helps you to explore your current situation and plan for retirement or a later-in-life career change based on:

• your identity – encouraging you to think about how much of your identity is tied up with work and how to get

the right balance between work and the rest of your life

• your money – helping you work out how to plan for a financially secure retirement

• your career – identifying and exploring your options and next steps

• your health – how to look after yourself and your health

• your relationships – identifying the significant people in your life who you want to share your future with and how to nurture those relationships.

Here’s some of the feedback we recieved from employees who have explored the Create Your Future workshop:

• “Impressive – very useful for our retirement plan.”• “Given me a new attitude towards retirement.”• “Love it!!” • “Brilliant.” • “Thanks Australia Post.”

Leading Self Through Change

The Leading Self Through Change course provides an understanding of the typical reactions you and others may experience as you go through periods of change.

The workshop helps you to understand how you feel about change in order to manage how you deal with it.

Here is some of the feedback we recieved from employees who have explored the Leading Self Through Change workshop:

• “Before I was focusing on ‘It’ll be right, mate’. I was being positive for everyone else and trying to hide my own concerns. Now I feel like I can move on.”

• “Amazing course!” • “Overall the session was excellent – I feel happy and prepared for the change.”

If you feel like you need some additional support to cope with change, free and confidential counselling is available through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) on 1300 360 364

Health and Wellbeing

The Health and Wellbeing course provides practical and essential support to help you make better and more informed lifestyle choices and increase your overall health and wellbeing. The course is designed to help you take control of your life choices and plan for a healthy and happy future.

Financial Literacy

The Financial Literacy course provides practical and essential support to help you manage money, make better and more informed financial decisions and increase financial resilience to take control of your finances and plan for a safe and secure financial future.

Find out more:

Visit the new PP1st website auspost.com.au/PP1st and search for “skills” or “MyLearningHub”

[email protected]


Customer focus

Thank you Australia PostWe have recently received a number of thank-you letters from our very appreciative customers about some of our people who go above and beyond. Here are three of our favourites.

Hi,I would like to bring to your attention and commend the local postman who delivers my mail on a daily basis (Blackwell St, Tannum Sands 4680). He on many occasions has gone out of his way to be polite and help out by making my life easier when delivering mail. He is always smiling, polite and thoughtful. I love my mail man!If you could find a way to reward his behaviour within your huge company I would be much obliged! Please inform me of what you proceed with, I would like to know.Every small thing counts to build an empire and you should rest easy knowing that you have a marvellous local mail man keeping customers like me happy.Kind regards, Jenni

To whom it may concern,I am writing to express my appreciation for the help provided by our mail man, Ivan Coulson.A few weeks ago, Ivan knocked on my front door with a registered article. In the process of exchanging signatures and receiving my article, my 2-year-old son closed my front door locking me out of my premises and locking him inside the house.As you can imagine, I was panic stricken as I had no keys … my son began to call out for me … in the midst of it all, Ivan dropped everything and offered his assistance. With his help, I was able to gain entry into my premises and be reunited with my son.I am so thankful to Ivan for not only coming to my rescue but going above and beyond his call of duty to help a stranger, a rarity in this day and age!Ivan is an asset to your team and a story that I have not only shared with my neighbours, family, friends and social media, but one I will continue to share as he is an everyday HERO!!Thanks again Ivan.Kind regards, Mireille & Andrew Hayes

Matt FranciscoStreet mail delivery contractor, Tannum Sands, Queensland

Ivan CoulsonPostal delivery officer, Deewhy, New South Wales

continued page 25 m


Postie making in-roads for sales teamThe sales team at Mount Waverley Business Hub in Victoria has a valuable collaborator. Postie Austin La’Forgue has created in-roads to businesses in their catchment area, generating more than 40 business leads while on his regular round.

By chatting with his customers each day he has built up their trust, which has enabled him to identify opportunities and gain the details of key decision makers within some of these businesses.

“This has been valuable in reaching the right people so we are able to have discussions with them and arrange quotes,” says Matt Goldsmith, Delivery Manager, Mount Waverley Business Hub.

“When I speak with my customers, I try to find out who is in charge,” says Austin. “I then speak with the person who makes the decisions to find out how we can help them. I usually find that so long as they’re able to get something out of it, the customer is open to having a conversation with our sales people.”

So far, Austin’s leads have generated more than $120,000 in quotes from businesses in many fields including construction, party supplies, computer sales, and workwear. Recently, one of these leads turned into $35,000 of business from a computer company.

“Austin is a great example of how our people can contribute to the growth of our business simply by speaking with our customers,” says Matt.

“I enjoy chatting with people,” says Austin. “By identifying business opportunities when I speak with them and finding a way to reach the decision makers, I know I am helping the business and this gives me great satisfaction.”

Customer focus

Cathy has been working as a relief postal services officer/postal delivery officer for eight years and has recently received two hand-written letters from her happy customers.

Cathy MaleWagga Wagga Post Office, New South Wales

Got a fun fact to share? [email protected]

Some fun facts … In December 2007, Portugal released the world’s first stamp made entirely of corkPortugal is the world’s biggest producer of cork and the stamp was just 0.35 millimetres thick.

The world’s first large-scale mechanical mail sorting system was introduced in Sydney in 1967This coincided with the introduction of our current four- digit postcode system.

Above: Postie Austin La'Forgue.


Customer focus

Expanding our trusted services to meet changing customer needsWith the rise of the digital age, our customers are looking to us to provide an increased range of services that allow them to communicate and do business both physically and digitally. To meet their changing needs, we’re extending our trusted services offer to provide customers with even greater access to a range of services – now and into the future.

New Load&Go China travel cardAustralia Post and UnionPay International, the world’s largest card scheme, will soon launch Australia’s first UnionPay dual-currency travel card. The Load&Go China card will be available in Australia Post retail outlets nationwide from mid-November.

With more than 4.2 billion cards in circulation, accepted by over eight million merchants and 600,000 ATMs in mainland China alone, UnionPay offers the most widely recognised method of payment in the People’s Republic of China.

Providing licensing services for the Department of TransportAustralia Post has extended its partnership with the Western Australian Department of Transport to make it even easier for residents in the state to access driver and vehicle services.

These services are now available at the Clarkson, Armadale, Cloverdale, Karrinyup and Mandurah post offices, where drivers can apply for a new driver’s licence, renew an existing licence, change their vehicle ownership and renew their vehicle registration.

We now have 24/7 Parcel Lockers at 184 locations and will soon have 250 locations Australia wide. The three latest locations are St Marys in New South Wales, West Lakes in South Australia and Cairns in Queensland.

Helping our customers manage parcel deliveries From November, all Australia Post customers will be able to register for a MyPost account either in store or online. This will help customers to:

• select a secure, private parcel collection address away from their home in more than 3,000 post offices and over 180 parcel locker locations

• be notified when there is a parcel to collect, supported by email and SMS, to avoid being carded

• have an easier and secure collection experience by using their MyPost card to receive parcels at Parcel Collect or parcel locker locations at a time that is convenient to them.

Look out for more details in store or visit

auspost.com.au/mypost

With 51 superstores now trading nationally,

the most recent additions to our network include Perth Cloisters Square in Western

Australia, Ringwood in Victoria and Bondi Junction

in New South Wales.

New-look travel insuranceOn October 27, we will be launching a new-look travel insurance product in retail stores nationally.

The new product, available in store and online, is a comprehensive international travel insurance policy, which consists of a $6-a-day policy for travel to Europe, Asia, Indonesia, New Zealand and the South Pacific and a $10-a-day policy for travel to the USA, Canada, South America and Africa.

Don’t forget, employees and your families are eligible for a 10 per cent discount on Australia Post Travel Insurance policies.

To get a quote visit:

auspost.com.au/travel-id/travel-insurance and enter the code APSTAFF

call 1300 728 183 or go into a store

These locations are in addition to St Georges Terrace, West Perth, Fremantle, Busselton and South Hedland, which have been providing licensing services since July 2012.

http://auspost.com.au/mypost

http://www.auspost.com.au/travel-id/travel-insurance


Title tile

27

Stamp release

Honouring the Australian Defence Force

This year we commemorate the centenary of World War I (WWI) and remember the contribution made by our defence force over the past 100 years with a new stamp release, A Century of Service: The Australian Defence Force.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is made up of the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) – together known as the Tri-services.

Australia has maintained military services since shortly after Federation in 1901. On 1 March 1901, 28,923 colonial soldiers, including professional soldiers, paid militia and unpaid volunteers were transferred to the new Australian Army. During its history, the Australian Army has fought in many major wars including the Second Boer War (1899–1902), World War I (1914–18), World War II (1939–45), Vietnam War (1962–73) and more recently in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Australia’s Navy was established as the Commonwealth Naval Force shortly after Federation. On 10 July 1911, King George V approved Australia’s request to have the “Royal” prefix attached to the Navy’s title. During WWI, the RAN was initially responsible for capturing many of Germany’s Pacific colonies and protecting Australian shipping from the German East Asia Squadron. During the 1920s and 30s the RAN drastically reduced in size. However, after tensions increased, it was modernised and expanded. By the end of WWII, it was the fifth-largest navy in the world.

The Australia Army established the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) in 1912, which then separated to become the Royal Australian Air Force in March 1921. In WWII the Australian crew fought all across the globe including in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, over the Indian and Pacific Oceans and parts of Asia. In 1945 Australia had the fourth-largest air force in the world.

A Century of Service: The Australian Defence Force stamp issueThe four domestic base-rate (70 cent) stamps were designed by Tim Hancock of the Melbourne-based design studio XSD. The designs are based on the caps and badges of the three services of the Australian Defence Force with the fourth stamp depicting the ADF emblem badge.

Associated with this stamp issue is a special prestige cover, Remember Me To All, which includes a facsimile of a pocket book carried by Private John Hector Croft of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Croft’s life was saved when an enemy bullet lodged in the pocket book after penetrating his arm. Also included is a facsimile of a letter written by Croft describing the incident.

Other products associated with this stamp issue include a miniature sheet, first day cover, stamp pack, booklet of 10 x 70 cent self-adhesive stamps, set of four maxicards and four designed gutter strips of 10 x 70 cent stamps.

The A Century of Service: The Australian Defence Force stamp issue is available from 21 October at participating post offices, via mail order on 1800 331 794 and online at auspost.com.au/stamps while stocks last.

A highly collectable Remembrance Day postal and numismatic cover is also due for release on 11 November.

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


Postal World

Postal news from around the globeUnited KingdomUK Mail launches mobile greeting card app: United Kingdom mail and parcels company UK Mail has launched a new mobile greeting card application for iPhone users. The app is called SWALK, which stands for “Sealed With A Loving Kiss” – a popular acronym that dates back to World War II and was used on letters and cards sent between lovers. The app is free to download and very easy to use. The sender simply takes a photo on their phone or selects an existing photo from their phone library or their Facebook account, personalises the image with captions or frames and sends the message to the recipient. The card is sent electronically to UK Mail’s sorting centre where it is printed, folded, placed in an envelope and posted out to the recipient. The greeting cards can be sent all across the UK and internationally and cost £2.49 (approximately A$4.60).

United StatesMaking it easier for marketers to reach consumers: The United States Postal Service (USPS) is introducing a marketing promotion that “attaches” a digitally enabled icon to mail items, similar to a QR code. The icon can then be scanned through USPS’ mobile app AR (meaning augmented reality), which takes viewers to an interactive advertising experience. USPS is creating a marketing campaign of its own to promote the product. The organisation has sent out physical brochures to companies to explain the digital experience, encouraging recipients to download the AR app and scan the image of an envelope located inside the brochure. The envelope then “comes to life” and an interactive presentation of the product begins. The app is targeted at marketers looking to break through the barriers of physical advertising.

GermanyDHL delivers a speedy and environmentally friendly service: Deutsche Post DHL in Germany recently shipped 41 electric racing cars and related equipment for the FIA Formula E Championships in Beijing. The race, spanning nine cities in 10 months, is the world’s first fully electric racing championship aimed to inspire people to embrace sustainable technologies and practices. DHL will be using its own “green” logistics solutions to transport the large lithium-ion batteries that power the vehicles, which require special handling. DHL will also be transporting the vehicles to the eight other cities across the globe that will host the race. At the same time the company has launched the Formula E-inspired Blue Sky Transport Design Award, which encourages professional designers to submit creative ideas to shape the future of sustainable electric transport. The winners of the award will be announced at the final race in London in June next year.

FranceLa Poste deploys eco-friendly electric three-wheelers: La Poste in France has begun deploying efficient, eco-friendly three-wheeled electric vehicles to its posties for the delivery of mail and small parcels. The vehicles’ name, STABY, is derived from the word “stability” and was designed by Ligier, a French manufacturer of niche vehicles, in conjunction with delivery drivers, ergonomists and workplace health and safety experts. The three-wheeler is well suited to metropolitan and rural areas and has less of an environmental impact than the scooters that French posties are currently riding. It is quieter, smaller and allows drivers to access narrow streets easily while emitting little noise and smell. The vehicle also improves working conditions for posties as it guarantees greater stability when driving and stopping and is safer than the scooters. La Poste plans to have several thousand of the vehicles on the road by 2015.

BarbadosTraining centre opened for postal employees: The Universal Postal Union (UPU) has opened a new postal training centre in the Caribbean at a time when postal operators in the region are struggling to keep up with customer expectations. The UPU worked with the Caribbean Postal Union and the Government of Barbados to open the centre in Bridgetown, Barbados’ capital. It is expected that 1,280 postal workers will be trained over the next two years and will be able to use their learnings to train colleagues in their home countries. Postal workers will be trained on a number of topics including postal operations, quality of service, ecommerce and product management. The first workshop took place in September, with 22 postal workers from the Caribbean taking part.

Barbados flew the British

flag until achieving in

dependence

in 1966. It’s current

ultramarine

and gold national fla

g with

a trident in the centr

e represents

the ocean, sand and d

emocracy.

Following the success of last year’s Christmas Casuals program, Australia Post is again inviting enthusiastic family and friends to register for casual work in our mail and parcel facilities during the peak period.

Christmas Casualsa special opportunity for family and friends

If you know someone who is keen to work on a casual basis between October and December, get them to register their interest at

auspost.com.au/christmascasuals

If you would like more information on the program email

[email protected]

Post journal Oct Nov 2014

Documents

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australia post annual

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inclusion annual report