Melissa McIntosh MP
Shadow Minister for Communications
Shadow Minister for Women
Federal Member for Lindsay
It has been revealed overnight via a brief statement on the Australia Post website that a security breach resulting in theft of mail has occurred at Australia Post’s Melbourne GPO Box Room, which is one of Australia’s major private box centres for businesses, banks and institutions.
It is unclear by the public statement, how many Australia Post customers have been impacted, who conducted the theft, and what information has been stolen from within the mail articles.
Shadow Minister for Communications, Melissa McIntosh said, “It was very late last night that Australia Post published a four sentence note in the depths of their website about the unauthorised access and mail theft from the Melbourne GPO Box Room between 6 and 17 July.”
“The lack of detail in the statement is deeply concerning given the trust people place in Australia Post in ensuring their mail reaches the correct destination safely and securely. Australians would expect the Melbourne GPO Box Room to be one of Australia’s safest private box centres.
“This seems to potentially be a serious security and data breach, resulting in an immediate 10 questions for Australia Post and the Albanese Labor Government.
- When did Australia Post know about the unauthorised access and theft of mail at the Melbourne GPO Box Room?
- Was it a one-off incident or did it happen on multiple occasions over a number of days?
- What is the scale and seriousness of the incident?
- Is the Albanese Government aware of this incident at the GPO Box Room?
- If the government is aware, when did they find out and what action are they taking?
- How many customers have been impacted and have those customers been notified?
- What is being done to protect the security of the impacted customers?
- Have any other mail centres been impacted?
- Can Australia Post and the Albanese Labor Government confirm the mail of Australian individuals, businesses and institutions is currently adequately protected?
- Is a short statement within the Australia Post website adequately informing the public?
“The Albanese Labor Government has promised the Australian people they would be transparent, and Australians need confidence in Australia Post. An incident of unauthorised access and theft of mail from the GPO Box Room in one of our country’s major cities requires a swift and thorough response.”