The rising cost of staying paper-based: why businesses must rethink how they deliver notices

Australia Post’s latest postage hike has made headlines, and for good reason. As of 17 July 2025, the cost of mailing a basic small letter rose from $1.50 to $1.70. That’s an increase of more than 13%. While that may sound modest on a per-letter basis, it’s having an outsized impact on businesses – like councils and utilities – that issue tens of thousands of notices annually.

Of course, most councils aren’t paying full retail rates. They typically use bulk business services, which come with discounts based on lodgement volume, barcoding, and sorting. But here’s the catch: those discounts now apply to a higher base price. In real terms, that means councils are paying more per item – even if they’re mailing efficiently.

For example, a council that previously paid around $0.80 per notice may now be paying closer to $0.91. Across 100,000 mailings, that’s an additional $11,000 per year, just to send the same notice to the same household in the same envelope.

And it’s not just about the money.

Bulk mail relies on long production timelines, batching rules, and minimal flexibility. You don’t get same-day delivery. You don’t get tracking. You don’t get audit trails. And once your notices are handed off to Australia Post, it’s anyone’s guess when they’ll arrive – or whether they’ll arrive at all.

In a time when residents expect real-time access to just about everything, paper mail – no  matter how efficiently it’s prepared – is increasingly out of step.

A crossroads for councils and utilities

The way organisations deliver information to ratepayers has certainly evolved over the last decade. BPAY View helped pave the way for digital delivery by allowing notices to be received directly inside online banking. But with banks like ANZ now decommissioning BPAY View entirely, councils are facing a critical choice.

They can either revert to sending paper notices to residents who once received them digitally – or they can take the opportunity to modernise their delivery infrastructure.

In an attempt to bridge the gap, many councils have introduced email delivery. It’s an easy rollout and satisfies basic digital preferences. But it’s also a weak long-term solution.

Email lacks delivery certainty, exposes personal information to phishing and interception and provides no control once a message leaves the server. Spam filters, shared inboxes, and outdated addresses make it an unreliable channel for essential communications.

Which is why it shouldn’t be the endgame. It’s a patch, not a platform.

The case for secure digital delivery

That’s where secure digital mailbox platforms like Payreq come in. These platforms replicate and extend the best parts of BPAY View – secure access, document archiving, digital timestamps and user-managed preferences – while offering even more flexibility.

Residents receive their notices in a protected mailbox environment, accessible online or via app. From there, they can view, store, and download notices. The can even forward to their  email address if they really want.

And organisations benefit too. No printing. No envelopes. No postage. No delays. Just fast, trackable delivery and reduced customer service overheads.

It’s more than a shift in format; it’s a shift in control.

Councils and utilities gain visibility over what was delivered and when. Residents get a user experience that mirrors what they’ve come to expect from banks, insurers and utilities. And ratepayer data is protected by multi-layered security protocols, not left floating around in someone’s inbox.

Digital-first isn’t just cost-effective – it’s future-proof

Some councils and utilities have already made digital the default, actively enrolling ratepayers in secure delivery and phasing out paper over time. Others are testing opt-in strategies or including digital instructions on their paper notices to boost uptake.

What all of them have in common is a desire to reduce waste, deliver a better experience, and avoid the trap of rising mail costs.

Because here’s the truth: Australia Post isn’t finished. As letter volumes decline, postage will keep going up. That’s how fixed-cost networks work. And councils who stay reliant on physical mail will continue to absorb the impact, year after year.

In that context, the July 2025 increase isn’t just a budget issue. It’s a turning point.

For councils still sending tens or hundreds of thousands of paper notices each year, it’s time to stop seeing digital delivery as a nice-to-have. It’s a core part of service delivery – one that’s faster, cheaper, and more secure than paper will ever be.

So, while your next batch of notices might already be in the mail tray, your long-term strategy needs to be somewhere else entirely: in the mailbox that lives on your residents’ phones, not in their letterboxes.

Find out more about Payreq Bill&Pay, secure digital delivery for Councils and Utilities.