Australia Post gains from change

Delivering the University of Sydney Accounting Foundation’s Pacioli Society Lecture, Australia Post’s Group CFO Janelle Hopkins said that digital disruption had transformed her organisation from a "letters company" into an agile forward-looking e-commerce firm.

Ms Hopkins told her audience of accounting academic and practicing accountants that letters delivered by Australia Post had fallen from five to two billion since the launch of the first smartphone.

"The disruption over the past ten years has been the most profound in Australia Post’s 208 year history," she said. "However, the way that people use technology has opened up new opportunities."

One of those opportunities, she said, was in parcel deliveries which have grown significantly with the rise of online shopping. Ms Hopkins also pointed to Australia Post’s national network of around 4,500 retail outlets, saying that it would form an important part of the company’s future.

During the Pacioli Society Lecture, Ms Hopkins described data as the "new oil" because of its ability to provide information that creates new opportunities such as improving customer experience and keeping posties safer on the road.  

Ms Hopkins talked to the Business School’s Trevor Watson about Australia Post's transformation over the past decade and the company’s future.