SELLING POST OFFICES

Question: The owner informed Australia Post that I am buying the business. What happens next?

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1. Australia Post will contact you by phone/email and send you various forms to complete, for example a police check form, a request for Western Union Registration and Austrac integrity credentials.

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2. Once all documents have been completed and returned to Australia Post, the documents will be reviewed. You will then be invited to attend an online assessment to check your English literacy and mathematical ability. You will also attend an interview with Australia Post in which they will assess if you are suitable to become an owner of a post office.

 

3. If you fail the interview, you will not be allowed to buy a post office. We will prepare you well to make sure you pass the interview easily. You shouldn’t be worried – this is our responsibility to get you 100% prepared.

 

After passing the interview, you will move on to the training stage, which typically takes 5.5 weeks:

 

a. Two days of introduction training will be completed online. 

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b. The next 2 weeks will be spent in a corporate post office (a post office that is owned by Australia Post, not a licensee), and also in an LPO.

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You will advise Australia Post where you live and they will try to find a corporate and LPO nearby so it’s easy for you to get to training.

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Australia Post will work with you to find a location that works for you. If you live in a different state, you can ask to do the training in your state. For example, if you live in Sydney and buy a post office on the Gold Coast, you should be able to do the training in Sydney. Australia Post will ask you what your preference is before the training starts.   

 

c. At the end of the 2 weeks you will complete a week of advanced training. This will be done online as well. 

 

For example, if you are from Canberra and buying a post office in QLD, you will do the first two days online and the next 3 weeks in Canberra, and the fourth week online again. 

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d. The last 2 weeks of training will be spent in the LPO you are purchasing so you can familiarise yourself with the business and its customers.

At the end of this training stage, assignment will take place and you will become the owner of the LPO.

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The training with Australia Post costs $2,500 plus GST per person. Up to 3 people can attend the training and you can nominate a manager to attend the training on your behalf. 

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Please allocate money for all additional costs beside the purchase price - legal fees (a couple of thousand dollars) and training.

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Assignment

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The date for the assignment is decided by Australia Post. This means that even if you and the seller agreed in a contract to do the assignment on July 1st, Australia Post might pick a different day.

 

The chance of the exact date in the contract matching the real date is very low. Different things can come up, like Australia Post only being able to send someone for the assignment on a specific day, making it unlikely that the dates will match exactly.

 

Government payments - Please confirm the following with your solicitor: 

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There is no GST on the sale of an operating business.

NSW – No stamp duty on the sale of a business. 

QLD – The purchaser needs to pay a transfer duty.

VIC – No stamp duty on the sale of a business.