Australia Post charges $1,620 to redirect a business address for twelve months. That is the straightforward part. What derails office moves is the application itself, because if you trade as a partnership, a sole trader, a club or a home office, you cannot lodge it online at all. Somebody has to stand at a Post Office counter with identification.
Here is what business mail redirection actually covers in 2026: the current prices, the lead time, the eligibility rule most people find out about too late, and the mail that will not follow you no matter what you pay.
What redirection covers, and what Australia Post charges
Australia Post redirects eligible letters and parcels from an old business address to a new one for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months. The Australian rates are $162 for one month, $405 for three months, $810 for six months and $1,620 for twelve months. International redirection is exactly double at every tier, so twelve months to an overseas address is $3,240.
One application covers up to six names. That includes your registered business name, trading names, name variations, your own name, and the names of other people who receive business mail at that address. Most businesses do not realise this and lodge separate applications, or worse, cover the company and forget the director whose insurance renewals arrive at the office. Write the list out before you apply. Our mail redirection service handles the paperwork either way, but the list has to come from you.
The rule that catches sole traders, clubs and home offices
Online application is currently open to companies only. Partnerships, sole traders, clubs, not-for-profits, government bodies and home offices have to apply in person at a Post Office. For a one-person consultancy or a local sporting club, that is an hour out of someone’s day during business hours, and it is not optional.
The identification requirements are tighter than people expect. You need photo identification such as a driver’s licence or passport, and student cards and credit cards are not accepted. The alternative is one document showing your name and Australian residential address, such as a bank statement, rates notice or residential lease, plus a second document carrying your signature. Online applicants also have to upload a JPG photo of themselves holding the verified photo identification. If the person lodging the form is not a director or partner, they need a letter of authorisation on official company letterhead.
Alpha Mail prepares and lodges the application, and notifies your energy provider, insurer, telco and bank of the address change. Everyone else on your contact list is still yours to tell.
The mail that will not follow you
Redirection is not a blanket forward. Registered Post, Cash on Delivery, Parcel Post, Express Post and anything requiring customs documentation are not redirected overseas, and mail cannot be redirected from an overseas address back to an Australian one.
Think about what that excludes in practice. Legal correspondence sent to the Registered Post. Supplier invoices that arrive via Express Post because somebody set it up that way in 2019. Courier consignments from your freight accounts. Go through the last three months of inbound mail at the old address, list what arrived by what method, and deal with those senders directly rather than assuming the redirection catches them.
The same logic applies in reverse. Your outbound mail still has to go out while you are between premises, which is why some clients hand their letter mailing service across during a move rather than trying to run a print and post workflow out of half-packed boxes.
Why a December move means a November application
Alpha Mail asks for five full business days to process a redirection before it starts, and Australia Post publishes a 3 to 6 business day window for its own processing. Neither figure includes the days the Post Office is shut.
Most Australian offices move between mid-December and late-January, which is exactly when counter hours contract around the public holidays and when a sole trader or club representative has to physically attend. Now let’s count backwards. For a 15 December handover, five business days of processing plus the shutdown means lodging in the last week of November, not the second week of December.
There is a second reason not to leave it late. Redirection buys you a window to update everyone who writes to you, and that is all it does. Twelve months at $1,620 is expensive compared with the half day it takes to correct your address on invoices, your ABN record, your letterhead and your supplier portals. Treat the redirection as a safety net under the address change, not as a replacement for it. The mailing house habit of cleaning address data before a run is the same habit worth applying to your own record.
What to send us to get it lodged
Four things: the old address, the new address, every name that receives mail at the old address up to six, and the date you need it live. Alpha Mail lodges 1, 3, 6 and 12 month redirections to any address in Australia and arranges extensions on request. If you are unsure which plan applies, tell us how the business is structured and we will tell you whether it can go online or needs a counter visit.
Get a quote or call the Sefton office on (02) 9633 2883 and we will work the dates backwards with you.
Frequently asked questions
How much does mail redirection cost?
Australia Post charges $162 for one month, $405 for three months, $810 for six months and $1,620 for twelve months to redirect business mail within Australia. International redirection costs double at each tier. One application covers up to six names, so a company with several trading names pays once rather than three times.
How do I redirect my mail to a new address?
Apply through Australia Post, online if your business is a company, or in person at a Post Office if it is a partnership, sole trader, club, not-for-profit, government body or home office. You need photo identification, the old and new addresses, and the names to be covered. Alpha Mail can prepare and lodge the application for you.
Can I extend a mail redirection?
Yes. Extensions are available on request, and Alpha Mail arranges them as part of its redirection service. Plan the extension before the original period lapses, because there is no grace window once a redirection ends. Mail addressed to the old premises after that date goes to whoever occupies the building.
Is free redirection available in any circumstances?
Twelve months of free redirection may be available to people affected by family and domestic violence, by a natural disaster, or to those managing a deceased person’s affairs. Eligibility is assessed by Australia Post rather than by us. Contact the Sefton office and we will walk you through what the application needs.