I've received a letter response from AusPost

I've received a letter from Australia Post about the closure of the Gouger Street Post Office.

I am grateful for their direct and considered response, but the letter doesn't really answer the community's main questions and concerns:

📮There is no alternative post office within walking distance 

The closest alternative is over a kilometre away. Not everyone drives. If they do, this distance creates traffic and parking pressure on city roads.

📮The north-west CBD is by far the city's biggest growth area

Population and business growth relies on nearby essential services like this. This will leave the western CBD as the *only* part of the city without a post office – why here?

📮What "practical transitional arrangements" will actually support people affected by this change? 

Will older people or people with disabilities be offered a shuttle service?

Will the City West PO change its operating hours to match Gouger Street's, considering it only operates 10am to 3pm currently?

I've got more questions than answers...

👉 Meanwhile, this petition has grown to 221 signatures to save our Post Office

City locals are rightfully concerned about this. What essential services do we lose next?

• The chemist?
• The childcare?
• The gym?

I will continue to discuss this with Australia Post.

Here's my Facebook post about this:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BnbZJQWeN/

Here's a copy of the letter:

Dear Councillor Freeman, 

I refer to your correspondence dated 16 August 2026 regarding the planned closure of the Adelaide Business Centre and thank you for your input as part of our community engagement process. As a Senior Adviser in the Government Affairs team, I have been asked to review and respond to the matter on behalf of Australia Post. 

We appreciate the importance of postal and parcel services to residents and acknowledge the issues you have highlighted regarding accessibility and future population growth in the southwest CBD.

However, while we recognise the value many customers place on local access, the Adelaide Business Centre has seen a significant and ongoing decline in customer numbers, which does not support a sustainable customer base for the continued operation of a dedicated outlet.

Especially with other outlets in close proximity including Adelaide GPO Post Shop, City West Campus LPO and Adelaide Rundall Mall Post Shop. 

We understand that post office closures can have community impacts. This is why, Australia Post has recently introduced a strengthened engagement and transition process for planned network changes. 

This process has been designed to provide greater opportunity for communities, customers and stakeholders to share feedback and help us better understand how services can be adapted to meet local needs during a transition.

Rather than focusing on a network decision itself, this process will help identify practical ways to minimise impacts on customers.

 Feedback, such as yours received through engagement helps inform measures such as customer communications, service alternatives, accessibility considerations, and support arrangements that may assist customers in transitioning to alternative Australia Post services.

Decisions like this sit within the context of a rapidly changing landscape for our extensive retail network. Australians’ needs are changing and Australia Post must continue to change as well.

As Australian consumers increasingly shop and transact online, foot traffic and over-the-counter transactions across the network have significantly declined. This pattern is expected to continue.

Decisions made at one outlet, strengthen our network as a whole and the decision to close the Adelaide Business Centre holds this principle at its core. To ensure the ongoing sustainability of our broader network into the future, we must make difficult decisions now. 

We are confident that customers will continue to have ready access to our services at any of the three alternative outlets within 2km of the closing Adelaide Business Centre.

We are taking a whole-of-city view of Adelaide and investing significantly to ensure customers continue to receive the best possible experience.

The recent uplift of the Rundle Mall Post Shop demonstrate our commitment to better serving the businesses and customers across Adelaide who use our services every day, where these are most needed.

In addition, our $500 million investment in the Adelaide Parcel Facility will benefit all residents of the entire metropolitan area. 

We are committed to ensuring customers continue to have access to postal services and will actively consider feedback received from local stakeholders as part of the engagement process.

Thank you for taking the time to represent the views of your community.