Change of Address Protocol / Rules in Canberra

This thread is a perfect example of why I don’t trust anything I read without citations. A combination of dickheads being deliberately misleading, and those who think they know what they’re talking about but are plain wrong.

For an authoritative answer to the OP, read the Criminal Code Act 1995 Chapter 10, Part 10.5, Division 471 Postal Offences:

Subdivision A—General postal offences
471.1 Theft of mail?receptacles, articles or postal messages
(1) A person is guilty of an offence if:
(a) the person dishonestly appropriates:
(i) a mail?receptacle; or
(ii) an article in the course of post (including an article that appears to have been lost or wrongly delivered by or on behalf of Australia Post or lost in the course of delivery to Australia Post); or
(iii) a postal message; and
(b) the person does so with the intention of permanently depriving another person of the mail?receptacle, article or postal message.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.

Dishonesty
(2) For the purposes of this section, a person’s appropriation of a mail?receptacle, article or postal message may be dishonest even if the person or another person is willing to pay for the mail?receptacle, article or postal message.

Intention of permanently depriving a person of a mail?receptacle, article or postal message
(3) For the purposes of this section, if:
(a) a person appropriates a mail?receptacle, article or postal message without meaning another permanently to lose the thing itself; and
(b) the person’s intention is to treat the thing as the person’s own to dispose of regardless of the other’s rights;
the person has the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.

471.3 Taking or concealing of mail?receptacles, articles or postal messages
A person is guilty of an offence if the person dishonestly takes or conceals:
(a) a mail?receptacle; or
(b) an article in the course of post (including an article that appears to have been lost or wrongly delivered by or on behalf of Australia Post or lost in the course of delivery to Australia Post); or
(c) a postal message.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 5 years.

471.6 Damaging or destroying mail?receptacles, articles or postal messages
(1) A person is guilty of an offence if:
(a) the person engages in conduct; and
(b) the person’s conduct causes damage to, or the destruction of:
(i) a mail?receptacle; or
(ii) an article in the course of post (including an article that appears to have been lost or wrongly delivered by or on behalf of Australia Post or lost in the course of delivery to Australia Post); or
(iii) a postal message; and
(c) the person:
(i) intends that his or her conduct cause that damage; or
(ii) is reckless as to whether his or her conduct causes that damage.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.

(2) For the purposes of this section, a person’s conduct is taken to cause the destruction of a thing if the person’s conduct causes the physical loss of the thing by interfering with the thing (including by removing any restraint over the thing or abandoning the thing).

(3) For the purposes of this section, a person’s conduct is taken to cause damage to a thing if:
(a) the person’s conduct causes any loss of a use of the function of the thing by interfering with the thing; or
(b) the person’s conduct causes the thing to be defaced.

Jethro said :

So it seems that most people agree that it is unreasonable to expect someone to return someone else’s mail for all eternity, but that the law forbids us from disposing of it.

I guess you could argue that there is a grey area surrounding the law that doesn’t forbid you from accidentally not seeing it and having it accidentally getting eaten by snails.

I admire your honesty and integrity Jethro, you spound like a good person.

In my view the social obligation only goes so far. I’ve been in the same situation in the past, and I reckon that if you’ve made your best efforts and still keep getting mail for random ex-occupants then just bin it.

There isn’t a giant force of armed men in black uniforms working for Aussie Post, out there tracking down and executing those who don’t return mail directed to dimwitted ex-occupants. Trust me on this, if nothing else.

Lazy I said :

“Return to sender, recipient deceased”

Problem solved. 😉

I have used this to good effect in the past (to get myself off mailing lists), my current house thought still gets mail for the two previous occupants, both of whom are dead.

I like the idea of, rather then returning to sender, forwarding the mail somewhere else. Say Ausposts complaints address, or the Mormons.

So it seems that most people agree that it is unreasonable to expect someone to return someone else’s mail for all eternity, but that the law forbids us from disposing of it.

I guess you could argue that there is a grey area surrounding the law that doesn’t forbid you from accidentally not seeing it and having it accidentally getting eaten by snails.

I agree with a lot of the sentiment here people should arrange for the mail forwarding service.

I had heard from someone that their works policy is they have to receive a letter 3 times as return to sender before they stop sending the letters.

We have a PO box but somehow we still end up with letters to our house even though everything we put down our PO box. Frustrating.

BethiePrice said :

Watson said :

I cannot find an official source that quotes the law relating to disposing of incorrectly addressed mail though.

“Australia Post is the only body that can legally dispose of mail and there are specific guidelines under which they do it.” Indusrty Ombudsman’s information (http://www.pio.gov.au/making-a-complaint/common-complaint-themes/getting-someone-elses-mail.php),
and if you are keen on some legislative reading check out the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989.
Google it or ask me nicely to send it to you 🙂
you’re welcome

I found the Act, but can’t find the relevant rule and am not willing to read the whole thing. Anywho, I will just trust that it is in there somehwere

And if I want to stay on the right side of the law, I will store mail not addressed to me in the backyard from now on instead of binning it. In neat stacks against the side of the house, because I’m nice like that. If the previous occupants ever want to come collect it, they are most welcome to.

Watson said :

I cannot find an official source that quotes the law relating to disposing of incorrectly addressed mail though.

“Australia Post is the only body that can legally dispose of mail and there are specific guidelines under which they do it.” Indusrty Ombudsman’s information (http://www.pio.gov.au/making-a-complaint/common-complaint-themes/getting-someone-elses-mail.php),
and if you are keen on some legislative reading check out the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989.
Google it or ask me nicely to send it to you 🙂
you’re welcome

There’s no obligation. I always send back mail with ‘not at this address’ for the first 3 months or so, anything after that goes straight in the bin.

If they’re too lazy to redirect their mail and the organisation is too lazy to take a hint .. then, you be equally lazy. The bin.

Many organisations use mailing houses to maintain their address database and send out their mail. The mailing houses have no incentive to delete names, especially as they charge per unit sent out. I worked for one of these places years ago, and they had literally rooms full of returned mail – and two little old ladies working three days a week (on very slow old computers) going through box after box deleting addresses. In the end, the mailing house rented extra space to store the returned mail as the piles grew bigger and bigger. It’s pretty clear where the financial incentives are to maintain bloated lists.

And yes, I know from experience that AP’s redirection service can be hit and miss.

So, I do the right thing for 12 months or so, then bin it. No-one can prove that you ever received any particular item anyway, and how would you remember the details of every item you had RTS? ; )

I cannot find an official source that quotes the law relating to disposing of incorrectly addressed mail though.

Although it is in theory illegal, I simply shred any mail to previous resident after the first 12 months. The evidence of my crime can be found in the back yard, being eaten by worms and pooped on by chooks. You’re welcome to it.

After the first dozen “no longer at this address” returns, I feel that I’ve done enough to satisfy any form of social contract that might be in place to help mail get delivered to the appropriate recipient.

The worst part is that some friends I was living with for a while are still getting mail from one of my super funds, long after I have ceased to have any superannuation with that fund.

We paid for a redirection earlier this year but then found some items weren’t being redirected (the senders contacted us by phone when the mail was returned). I put in a formal complaint wiht Auspost (first in my life – for anything). They eventually conacted me via phone, suggested they’d investigated and found no problems and that we should keep any future mail for proof… I said – you are kidding – that’s the whole point – I am NOT getting the mail!!! Top stuff.

At the new digs some mail arrived from the Electoral Commission addressed to John Anderson (of the fmr Deputy PM variety). I think he left that address in 07 when he retired from politics. Trust a pollie not to have all his AEC details up to date 🙂

I did the ‘not at this address” thing for a few months after I moved into my current house, over 4 years ago. Now anything that doesn’t have my name on it gets treated as junk mail.

I question the legal weight of that Australia Post advice. And it’s not as if the postie is going to hide behind your bin to catch you in the act!

If they don’t bother changing their address for that long, they obviously don’t care about this mail and won’t mind if it gets binned.

Same story here, although we only get one or two a week.

Funnily enough though, when the government was sending out the $900 GFC bonus, the previous owner’s son actually came around and knocked on the door at 10pm on a Friday night looking for their money. I informed him that all letters addressed to them were put back in the post with Return to Sender on them. This was apparently not good enough for him (and he obviously thought we had somehow cashed the cheques and stolen the money) so he wandered off muttering loudly and then decided to bag it up on the gravel at the front of our house before speeding off.

Pay? for a free service being provided by you. Hahahahaha

Why companies still send out physical paper mail anymore bemuses me seeing as they now require a million bits of contact information just to register on a website.

Email, text, autonotification popups…it’s the way of the future hahahahahaha

Westpac for instance sends me my account info still even though I’ve asked for no mail updates, by the time it has arrived it is a month behind and bears no real relation to my accounts. Why do they provide this redundant “service” when with about 30secs of effort I can do internet banking or phone? Telstra ruined my credit report and forced me to launch a formal investigation through the ombudsman because they mailed an old address (with incorrect information) for 6 months for a $101 closing bill even though they had my new address, mobile number and government email.

My regular email addresses have changed not once in 6 years. My phone number once after living in Thailand. My address however has changed every 3-6 months due to the ubiquitious shared living arrangements in this town.

Seriously to the OP chuck it in the bin, who gives a f***

Reminds me of when I had a temp job at the Dept of Finance. On the mailing list was Rene Rivkin who committed suicide more than five years earlier. I asked someone whether I should delete the address and I was told that addresses could only be deleted or amended if the recipient personally requests it.

If anyone knows Simon Standing can you please tell him to go back to when he lived in a Turner apartment and have his mail forwarded, I get 3 letters a day for him. Have written return to sender, no longer at this address, please adjust your records etc and still get the same mail. Some of the mail seems somewhat important (govt departments etc) and a lot of crap direct advertising and catalogues. My real estate agent says the landlord has no contact details for him. If he is dead will I keep getting his mail into perpetuity?

Seems to be a lot worse in rental/ex share houses. However, I bought a place 5 years ago and did what you did and was still getting mail up til a few months ago. I perservered though and eventually the mail from the former resident dried up.

“Return to sender, recipient deceased”

Problem solved. 😉

Absolutely not. You are under no obligation what so ever to forward the mail. If the people who previously lived there have not bothered to put in a change of address at the post office, they obviously don’t care for the mail that was being sent. Chuck it in the bin. Throw it on the street. Let them or the senders get fined for littering.

“So, my questions are… am I forever obliged to redirect these letters? What are the laws regarding dumping this mail? What if I just ‘don’t see’ their letters in my letterbox and they happen to get eaten by snails? What strategies do other people use to deal with the influx of un-redirected mail?”

If you read the Post Indusrty Ombudsman’s information (http://www.pio.gov.au/making-a-complaint/common-complaint-themes/getting-someone-elses-mail.php), it will tell you, you aren’t allowed to throw out the mail. My suggestion would be to bundle it up, write RTS (return to sender) on the front page and then only take it to Australia Post when you are actually going there. Most people will start wondering why they aren’t receiving mail/bill notifications/statements and contact the companies that send them. Seeing as you aren’t technically redirecting anywhere other than back to where they came from your argument could be that you don’t have the time to be going to the post office everytime the letters come back so one bundle every six months should suffice 🙂
In saying that my partner has the theory that if it’s addressed to his house he can open it… and I say if it accidently gets stuck with the junk mail when i throw it in the stinky bin…I’m not retrieving it 😛

I know people who have lived in their house or 5-10 years and still get letters roughly once a month for previous tennants/owners.

It’s not that hard !

Keen to get some info on this myself. 10 years after I moved in, I still get letters from businesses and super funds for past residents. I have starting adding some colourful langauge under the ‘Not at this address’, but they keep sending. Sadly, the ‘snails’ have gotten a few in recent times.