Where StarTrack Fits Inside the Australia Post Group
StarTrack is the premium courier arm of Australia Post Group — a separate operating brand with its own depot network, dedicated road and air freight infrastructure, and its own service codes. Australia Post Group acquired StarTrack outright in 2012 and has since integrated parts of the back-office, but the two brands still run separately for sender-facing purposes: separate booking portals, separate tracking, separate account terms.
The practical decision rule Australian senders use: if a parcel is under 5 kg and not time-critical, Australia Post Parcel Post or Express Post wins on price. If it is heavier than 5 kg, time-critical, or moving business-to-business between metros, StarTrack typically wins on price and service quality. StarTrack is built for warehouse-to-warehouse and B2B flows — it is not optimised for residential ecommerce in the way Australia Post is.
ℹ️ Australia Post and StarTrack share the underlying tracking infrastructure — a StarTrack consignment number works on both auspost.com.au and startrack.com.au tracking pages. But sender-facing tools (booking portals, account dashboards, invoicing) are separate. Pick the right side at booking time.
StarTrack's Service Tiers (Premium, Express, Road Express, Courier)
StarTrack runs a handful of distinct services, and the price gap between them is significant — picking the wrong tier is the most common margin leak for Australian businesses switching from Australia Post:
- StarTrack Premium: time-definite next-business-day delivery between metros, with delivery before 9:00 / 10:30 / 12:00 options. Used for emergency replacements, legal documents and high-value B2B parcels.
- StarTrack Express: next-business-day delivery between metros without a specific morning window. The default for most metro-to-metro B2B traffic.
- StarTrack Road Express: regional and inter-state road freight, typically 1-4 business days depending on origin and destination. Significantly cheaper than Premium / Express; used for non-urgent freight.
- StarTrack Courier: same-day or sub-4-hour metro courier work for very time-critical local shipments. Booked on demand rather than as a standing service.
- StarTrack Fashion: specialised service for hanging garments and fashion-industry rolling stock. Niche but priced competitively for retailers in the segment.
💡 Most Australian SMEs default to StarTrack Premium when Express would work. Premium is a real premium price-band; if a buyer doesn't need delivery by 9 AM, Express saves $5-$15 per parcel.
Consignment Notes: What They Are and How to Read Them
The StarTrack "consignment note" is the printed document that travels with the parcel — it carries the consignment number (the unique tracking ID), sender and recipient addresses, service code, weight, and any special handling instructions. It is the StarTrack equivalent of a shipping label, but the format is closer to a freight document than a postal label because StarTrack's network is built around freight, not letter post.
A StarTrack consignment number is typically 9 digits with a 2-character prefix (e.g. AP12345678) for items booked through Australia Post's interface, or a longer alphanumeric for direct StarTrack accounts. Track at startrack.com.au/track or auspost.com.au/mypost/track — both work for any StarTrack consignment.
- Consignment number: the unique tracking ID, prominently displayed and barcoded for scanner readability.
- Service code: tells the driver and depot which tier (Premium / Express / Road Express) to apply.
- Weight and dimensions: declared at booking; depots re-weigh and surcharge if the declared figure is wrong.
- Special instructions: "Authority to Leave" (ATL), signature on delivery, delivery time window — these are part of the consignment data, not the address line.
- Sender reference: optional internal reference (PO number, invoice number) that flows through to the tracking events for buyer-side reconciliation.
Size, Weight and the 30 kg Per-Parcel Ceiling
Standard StarTrack parcel pricing applies up to 30 kg per item with longest side up to 1.2 metres. Above 30 kg or 1.2 m, the parcel routes into StarTrack's freight pricing tier — significantly more expensive per kilo but still moves on the same network. Above 1,000 kg or palletised, you're into Road Express freight territory and pricing changes again.
- Standard parcel: up to 30 kg per item, longest side up to 1.2 m, cubic weight applies above the threshold.
- Oversized parcel: 30-100 kg per item, longest side up to 2 m. Surcharges apply but still picked up and delivered on the standard network.
- Pallet freight: 100 kg up to ~1,000 kg per pallet, handled by StarTrack's road freight arm. Different booking flow.
- Cubic weight: (L × W × H in cm) ÷ 4000 — same formula as Australia Post. Bulky-but-light parcels are charged on cubic weight.
- Minimum dimensions: 15 x 9 cm. Below this, parcels are non-machinable and may be hand-sorted with delays.
Tracking: MyStartrack vs Australia Post Unified Tracking
StarTrack consignments can be tracked two ways. The native StarTrack tracking page (startrack.com.au/track) gives the full freight-style scan history including depot-to-depot movements, oversized exception scans, and ATL/POD details. The Australia Post unified tracking page (auspost.com.au/mypost/track) gives a simpler buyer-facing view — useful for forwarding to retail customers without exposing back-office freight detail.
For business accounts, MyStartrack (login at startrack.com.au) is the full sender-side console — bookings, manifests, invoicing, account stats. It is the equivalent of MyPost Business but built for the freight workflow rather than the retail-parcel workflow.
- "Consignment created" / "Booking received": label/consignment data uploaded but parcel not yet picked up.
- "Picked up from sender": physical pickup completed; parcel is in the StarTrack network.
- "In transit" / "Arrived at depot": parcel is moving between hubs, with depot-level scans at each.
- "With courier for delivery": local driver has the parcel on the round; delivery within the business day.
- "Delivered": completion scan, with POD (proof of delivery) signature or ATL photo attached.
- "Delivery attempted - card left": failed delivery; parcel returns to local depot for redelivery or holding.
Pickup, Drop-Off and Booking via Australia Post Counters
Unlike Australia Post, StarTrack does not have a retail counter network — there is no "walk up and lodge a StarTrack parcel" equivalent of the Post Office counter. StarTrack movements are booked online or via account and either picked up from sender address or dropped at a StarTrack depot.
- Booked pickup: schedule via MyStartrack or a third-party shipping platform. Driver collects from sender address within a booked window.
- Depot drop-off: drop directly at a StarTrack depot for same-day induction into the network. Fastest option if sender is near a depot.
- Australia Post counter (limited): some Post Office branches accept StarTrack consignments for inducting into the network. Counter staff scan and re-handle, adding 12-24 hours to transit. Confirm with the specific branch before relying on this.
- Third-party booking platforms: Sendle, Shippit, Starshipit and others resell StarTrack capacity to small senders without an account. Useful for occasional StarTrack use; can be cheaper than walking up to an account from scratch.
⚠️ Do not rely on Post Office counters for time-critical StarTrack consignments. The handover adds half a business day in most cases and is the most common reason StarTrack Express ships arrive a day late from Post Office drop-off vs depot drop-off or booked pickup.
When to Choose StarTrack Over Australia Post
The single biggest source of overspend on StarTrack is using it for parcels that should have gone via Australia Post Express Post — and the single biggest source of underspend is forcing heavy items through Australia Post when StarTrack Premium or Express would have been cheaper. The decision lines:
- Under 5 kg, metro-to-metro, not urgent: Australia Post Parcel Post wins on price.
- Under 5 kg, metro-to-metro, next-day required: Australia Post Express Post is usually still cheaper and covers metro routes within the Express Post Network.
- 5-30 kg, metro-to-metro, B2B: StarTrack Express is typically cheaper than Australia Post Parcel Post when you factor in cubic weight, AND faster.
- 30+ kg or longest side 1.2 m+: StarTrack only — Australia Post will reject or surcharge.
- Time-definite delivery before 9 AM / 10:30 AM / noon: StarTrack Premium is the only AU Post Group product that offers timed delivery windows.
- Residential delivery to outer-suburban or rural addresses: Australia Post wins on coverage; StarTrack's network is metro-focused.
Common Mistakes Australian Senders Make With StarTrack
Friction points worth knowing before your first StarTrack shipment:
- Booking StarTrack Premium when Express would work. Premium's pre-9 AM and pre-10:30 AM windows command real premium pricing; if the buyer doesn't need morning delivery, Express saves a meaningful amount per parcel.
- Walking a StarTrack consignment into a Post Office counter expecting same-day induction. The counter route adds half a business day. Drop at a depot or book a pickup.
- Under-declaring weight or dimensions at booking. StarTrack depots re-weigh every parcel; declared figures lower than actual generate post-billing surcharges plus an admin fee. Always weigh and measure before booking.
- Using StarTrack for residential outer-suburban delivery. The network is metro-optimised; outer-suburb postcodes get sub-network delays and occasional delivery exceptions. Australia Post Express Post has better non-metro coverage at lower cost.
- Forgetting cubic weight. A 5 kg parcel measuring 50 x 40 x 30 cm has cubic weight 15 kg and is charged at the 15 kg rate. Same trap as Australia Post but more expensive in absolute terms because StarTrack's per-kg rate above the cube threshold is higher.
- Mixing StarTrack consignment numbers with Australia Post article numbers. They look superficially similar but tracking systems route them differently — use startrack.com.au/track for StarTrack numbers, even though auspost.com.au/mypost/track will also resolve them.