Glossop post office owners told to tender for Australia Post licence after seven years in operation

Bricks-and-mortar post offices across Australia are facing shutdown, leaving regional communities without essential services, thanks to an alarming new $85k fee.

A Riverland couple say they have been forced to walk away from the post office they “rescued” for the local community, claiming Australia Post has asked them to cough up $85,000 to continue running it.

Business owner-operator Alexandra Centofanti, who runs the Glossop post office with her husband Andrew, says licensees across the country have been hit with surprise bills — and fear regional communities could be left without essential services.

The couple took over the post office in 2017, spending a “considerable amount of money” to get the store up and running in the space of just four weeks.

For the past seven years, they have operated under a fixed-term Australia Post contract, a type of licence awarded to a limited number of owner-operators as a “short-term arrangement”.

But, in a shock move in June, Mrs Centofanti was informed by Australia Post that their agreement would not be renewed and the licence would instead be put out to tender, with the invitation to purchase an “indefinite licence” for an estimated $85,000.

Mrs Centofanti responded to Australia Post, raising issues over the tender process and requesting that their license be extended indefinitely.

But Mrs Centofanti said she received no response to her pleas and, in mid June, handed in a 90-day notice to the organisation after being advised by her accountant that it would not be viable to tender.

Glossop Post Office licensee Alex Centofanti. Picture: Jannette Fulham

The post office is now set to close on September 15, with Mrs Centofanti labelling the move a “blatant cash grab”.

“We took over as a way to give back to the community … none of us are actually taking money away from the post office,” she said.

“When you take out all of your expenses — wages, superannuation, WorkCover, electricity, training staff, there’s nothing left in (the licensees) pocket.”

It is understood a number of licensees with expiring fixed-term agreements across Australia have been similarly impacted, with the issue raised at a National Small Business Commissioners’ Forum last month.

Some licencees have been asked to repurchase their franchises at upwards of $800,000.

Listings on Seek Business show licenced post offices currently for sale in regional NSW, the NT, WA and QLD.

In November 2023, 32 post offices were listed for sale in SA.

An Australia Post spokesperson said the short-term licence had only been introduced to ensure “continuity of service” and thanked Mr and Mrs Centofanti for their dedicated service to the community.

Mrs Centofanti said the decision not to renew the couple’s licence came as a shock. Picture: Jannette Fulham

They said the licences awarded to the couple were extremely rare, and the decision to transition to a regular indefinite licence came as part of a move to “build a sustainable network”.

“As part of this, we are transitioning some post offices to standard licencing arrangements once their current term expires,” the spokesperson said.

“Australia Post has offered the current operators at Glossop the opportunity to participate in this process.”

But Mrs Centofanti said the decision felt like punishment for the couple, who had built the business to be “more than a post office” for Glossop locals.

“Anyone could outbid us and take away what we have built up over the past seven years,” she said.

“It just feels unfair.”