In some good news for the Australian public, and our Retail members, Australia Post has confirmed it will continue to be the provider of passport services on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for at least the next three years.
The new agreement, which commences on 1 July 2018, will see Australia Post continue to provide the service until at least 2021, with an option for DFAT to extend that agreement by a further three years.
Reports in mid 2016 of the Federal Government’s decision to consider other companies to provide this crucial service were met with fierce opposition from your Union.
National Secretary Greg Rayner, who at the time labelled the move as “reckless”, welcomed today’s announcement.
“Sanity within government and the bureaucracy has prevailed,” said Mr Rayner.
“The public puts incredible value on their ability to access government services from within their communities.
“This announcement means they can continue to conveniently access this critical service from their local post offices — run by local professionals who adhere to rigorous processes that guarantee the security of customers’ information.”
Branch Secretary Shane Murphy said the decision to look outside this long-standing arrangement was nonsensical to begin with and created unnecessary concern.
“Australia Post has the largest physical government footprint in the country and has been the trusted provider of passport services for over 30 years,
“Any decision to alter that now, or in the future, would be pure cost cutting at the expense of security of the sensitive identity information belonging to 1.9 million Australians every year.”
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