Postcode 2016 – a high-risk zone?

If you have recently lost a credit card and want a replacement sent to your Redfern residence or PO Box, well good luck. This is because Redfern Post Office, according to two of the four major banks, is seen as unsafe and insecure.

Westpac and the National Bank have the view that Redfern Post Office is in a “high-theft-prone zone”, stating that there is too high a rate of lost and stolen mail from the Post Office and mail boxes within the 2016 postcode.

Both Westpac and the National have compiled lists of high-risk areas that are regularly updated and Redfern is, sadly, represented.

After losing his credit card on a trip over seas, long-time Redfern resident and small business owner, Mark, was told by his bank, Westpac, that he would have to travel to his branch in Flemington to pick up his card – a short journey of only 20 kms! Mark was told that Westpac would not send his card to his secure PO Box at Redfern Post Office because it was insecure.

So when the steam escaping from his ears dissipated, the bank agreed to courier Mark’s replacement card directly to him. But the obvious question is why the PO Box for which he pays, in the hope that it is an impenetrable Fort Knox of security, is assumed insecure? And why is it that ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank will post cards to 2016, while National and Westpac will not?

The staff at Redfern Post Office can’t understand what all the commotion is about and neither does Australia Post.

It would seem that the National and Westpac banks have been unfairly targeted by thieves within the 2016 postcode area. Perhaps it’s the reward systems these banks offer or the designs on their envelopes?

Ali Blogg: PO boxes at Redfern: How secure is secure? Photo:

Source: South Sydney Herald December 2007 www.southsydneyherald.com.au/