How to address a letter or parcel to Australia 

How to write an Australian address

If you’re sending a parcel to Australia, you can avoid delays and the risk of your parcel getting lost by ensuring it is addressed correctly.

To demonstrate how to write an Australian address from overseas, we’ve provided an example of a UK address next to an Australian address, so you can see the difference. If you are familiar with the correct way to write an American address, you’ll notice that the Australia address format is very similar, with the city, state and Australia postal code appearing on the same line.

Australia address format 

How to write an Australia Address from overseas 

Step 1

After the recipient’s name, you need to write the street address, in our example, this is 98 Shirley Street. If the recipient lived in an apartment you would put the apartment number, followed by a slash before the street number. E.g. 17/98 Shirley Street.

Step 2

On the line after the street address, you’ll need to write the city, state and Australia postal code. This should all appear on the same line, as shown in the Australia address format example above.  

Like a US address, you need to include an abbreviation for the state or territory where the town or city is located. Our example shows QLD, which is the abbreviation for Queensland.

Australia state abbreviations 

There are six states in Australia and two territories. The abbreviations are shown in the table below:

Step 3

On the last line, write the country name. This is important when addressing mail to Australia from overseas.

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Australia PO Box address format 

The Australia address format for sending to a PO Box is similar to a standard Australia address, but the PO Box number must be included, as per the example below:

Mr Smith  

Parcel Monkey

PO Box 105

North Sydney NSW 2060

AUSTRALIA

How to write an Australian PO Box address

1. When writing an Australia address for a PO Box, the PO Box number needs to be clearly printed under the addressee and company name (if applicable).
2. A street address isn’t necessary with a PO Box.
3. Include the city, state and Australia postal code as before.

When sending a parcel to a PO Box in Australia, please note that many carriers have PO Box restrictions, so please check before trying to send a parcel or letter to a PO Box in Australia.

Sending a parcel to Australia? 

If you’re sending a parcel to Australia, Parcel Monkey can help you find a courier service that will ship your package to Australia at an affordable price. 

Simply enter the weight, dimensions and destination of your parcel into the Parcel Monkey courier quote tool to receive a list of discounted prices from reputable couriers, such as  DHL Air Express, Parcelforce and DPD. Select the service that’s best for you, print out your shipping label and you’re good to go!

Learn more about sending parcels to Australia