AUSTRALIA Post has confirmed Ballarat will be the first area in regional Australia to house the latest automated parcel-sorting technology, with upgrades to be installed early next year.
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This is the next major step to improving delivery efficiency to Ballarat and the wider region.
The announcement was made with Australia Post's official opening for the new 13,024 square-metre parcel delivery centre in Delacombe on Thursday.
Capacity for processing parcels with the new automation technology will lift from about 8000 parcels per day to about 3000 parcels per hour with room for more in peak times, such as Christmas.
The centre, which replaces temporary delivery centres in Bakery Hill and Wendouree, consolidates four sites for 160 workers and offers more sorting space for the region, including Birchip, Kaniva, Maryborough and Daylesford.
Australia Post network operations executive general manager Rod Barnes said parcel deliveries had increased by 80 per cent the past three years with four in five Ballarat households shopping online - and this trend was expected to rise.
"We noticed during (the) COVID (pandemic), Ballarat did it hard and we really needed the room for them to expand," Mr Barnes said.
"We're pleased to announce the automation technology facility ... It will really create a sense that Ballarat is the heart of the region and take some of the processing from Melbourne."
Most parcels and letters were already packed and out on the roads for delivery when The Courier visited.
Peak processing times are early morning and in the evening with huge holding bays to pack postie bikes and delivery vans.
Australian Infrastructure Minister and Ballarat federal MP Catherine King, who officially opened the centre, said this hub and its automation investment was a real boost in confidence for the region.
"When you think about Ballarat's first post office about 170 years ago in Golden Point and the postal service we have here, it has evolved and is a little bit different but we know it's still really important to people in Ballarat and really important to Australia," Ms King said.
"...This centre also demonstrates how we can do things different in the country."
Australia Post is soon to start recruitment for Christmas casuals in peak parcel processing.
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