You are here : General Services > Letters > Addressing Guidelines

Why is the format of an address so important?

Australia Post uses advanced letter sorting technology to read the address on each envelope electronically. These machines work best when address formats are structured in a consistent manner.

That is why it is necessary to address your mail clearly and correctly. The information below demonstrates how.

Envelope Layout

It is important that the zones on the envelope, indicated below, are observed at all times.

Typically, the address should be written in three lines:

1. The top line should contain the recipient’s name
2. The second last line should contain the number and name of the street, or PO Box or locked bag number if applicable
3. The last line should contain the place name or post office of delivery, State or Territory abbreviation and postcode. This line should be printed in capitals without punctuation or underlining. For overseas mail the country name should be in capitals on the bottom line.

Where extra clarifying information is required, place this information above the last two lines of the address. This includes information such as:

• company or property name
• non-address information, e.g. Attention M/s

General Addressing Tips

• Use the correct postcode – don’t guess it if you don’t know it. The postcode should be the last item in the address.
• Use clear print– Print clearly using dark ink, preferably black on white. Red, yellow or orange inks should be avoided. 
• Keep the address straight – the address lines should be parallel to the bottom of the envelope
• Don’t indent or stagger address lines – each line of the address should start at the same point on the left hand side
• Space words correctly – leave one or two character spaces between the place name or post office of delivery and the State or Territory abbreviation, and the same amount of space between the State or Territory abbreviation and the postcode.
• Don’t underline anything – no words in the address should be underlined.
• Include a return address – place the sender’s address in the top left corner, or on the back flap of the envelope. This ensures we can return the letter if it can’t be delivered.

Machine Addressing Tips

• Use clear readable type. Ensure the print characters in the address do not touch or overlap. Australia Post recommends using a fixed pitch type font such as Courier 12 point, 10 pitch
• Avoid italic, artistic, script, coarse dot matrix, extremely wide or narrow print fonts.
• Replace worn out ribbons or cartridges.
• Addresses in window panel envelopes should be clearly visible through the window. No other information should appear through the window, together with the address, even if the contents should move.
• Don’t use Postcode Squares for machine-addressed letters even if they are pre-printed on the envelope.

Hand Addressing Tips

• Use envelopes pre-printed with the four Postcode Squares.
• Print the four numerals of the destination postcode clearly within the Squares.
• Do not use the Squares on hand addressed envelopes for overseas addresses - even if the overseas postal code can fit into the Squares.
• Print the place name and state or territory abbreviation on the bottom line in capital letters.

Still not sure how it's done?

Try our address formatting tools below. Just enter the recipient's details and view the correct address format. 

It's important to note that the Address Formatting tool is a demonstration tool only, and re-structures the input data into a standard addressing format. It is not linked to an address-verification database, and does not check an address's validity. 

 Routine Street Address

 Flat or Unit

 PO Box, GPO Box or Locked Bag

 Multi Storey Building

Want to find out more?

For more detailed examples of address structures and information on address structuring, download a copy of Address Presentation Standards (pdf 440kb) Adobe Acrobat is required to read this file. If you cannot access the file, call 13 13 18.