A new parcel facility has been set up by Australia Post in southeast Sydney to keep up with record demand following Black Friday sales and in the lead up to Christmas.
The 20,000 square metre facility in Botany is capable of processing more than 100,000 parcels daily, bringing Australia Post's total processing capacity in NSW to almost 1.5 million parcels per day.
It is part of a $1 billion investment by the organisation, which includes new dedicated parcel sorting machines in Strathfield and Chullora, each capable of processing more than 8000 parcels per hour, and a site planned in Western Sydney due to go live prior to Christmas 2022.
Australia Post has seen deliveries for online shopping increase by as much as 59 per cent in NSW year-on-year during the last four months, with the organisation consistently handling more than 4.7 million parcels a week.
"Residents in NSW have embraced online shopping this year more than any other state or territory, and in the last four months alone, almost 40 per cent of all online purchases made in Australia were made in the state," chief executive Paul Graham said in a statement on Saturday.
Mr Grahram said the facility will also reduce manual handling, significantly improving staff safety.
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said lockdowns have led to an "explosion" in parcel volumes and he commended the way Australia Post has "risen to this challenge".
"With some of the rise in internet shopping bound to be a permanent feature of our logistics landscape, it is pleasing this new facility will ... assist Australia Post in meeting the expectations of its millions of customers," he said.
In early 2022, 250 delivery vans will begin operating from the Botany site, servicing customers in more than 30 postcodes in eastern Sydney.
Australian Associated Press
