Australia Post releases footage of posties being hit by cars as it urges drivers to ‘keep an eye out’
At least five posties are injured each week on Australia’s roads, according to data released by Australia Post as the service published video of collisions and urged motorists to “keep an eye out”.More than 280 posties sustained broken limbs, concussions or serious trauma from third-party road crashes in the past financial year.“Many of these incidents resulted in hospital treatment, time off work and ongoing psychological trauma,” Australia Post said on Tuesday.The corporation’s general manager of safety, Russell Munro, said posties were on the road “delivering for Australians but, increasingly, they’re also being put at risk by unsafe driver behaviour”.Sign up: AU Breaking News email“Our priority is to deliver for all Australians whilst ensuring the safety of our team members, so they return home to their families safely each day,” Munro said.
“However, road safety is a shared responsibility and we urge all drivers to keep an eye out for our posties.”The crashes in the released data only include cases where the postie was not the driver at fault.Australia Post outlined some key “road safety tips”, including: “When reversing out of your driveway, toot your horn and move slowly.”The video released on Tuesday reveals a disturbing pattern of hazards faced by Australia Post’s hi-vis-clad delivery workers, with multiple collisions occurring after other drivers failed to give way at roundabouts and intersections.Overtaking dangerously, cutting corners and driving while distracted – including using mobile phones – were also to blame for some crashes.
Even posties on foot were at risk, with Australia Post recording a rise in incidents involving scooters and bikes on footpaths.Munro said the figures were “deeply concerning” and highlighted the urgent need for shared responsibility, particularly as the busiest delivery season approaches.Some 3,500 additional contract workers have been hired by Australia Post to cope with the peak Christmas delivery season.The company was also in the process of conducting a major safety upgrade to its fleet.Sign up to Breaking News AustraliaGet the most important news as it breaksafter newsletter promotion“We’re rolling out electric delivery vehicles in place of the old Honda motorcycles, which represent a step forward in safety for our posties,” Munro said, of the battery-powered, semi-enclosed vehicles that are becoming a common sight on Australian urban roads.
“Those electric delivery vehicles come with more safety features, including multi-directional cameras, they’ve got telematics, which is like a GPS navigation device, and they’ve also got a duress button, which the postie can press in case of an emergency.“Our data shows that the severity of injury to a postie when involved in a motor accident is reduced when operating an eDV.In some instances, our team has walked away from the accident with only minor injuries.”The data, collected between July 2024 and June 2025, underscored the growing risks faced by frontline delivery workers.In December 2023, the Transport Workers’ Union said food delivery drivers on motorcycles and bicycles were injured at an average rate of about 150 each year on Victoria’s roads alone.
A 2024 report by Safe Work Australia found that transport, postal and warehouse workers were among the most likely to sustain serious injury at work.Vehicle incidents accounted for the largest proportion (42%) of worker fatalities across all industries.
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