Postage to Australia From the UK: Costs by Weight, Letters and Customs

How long does post take to Australia from the UK?

It depends on the service: 5 to 7 working days on Royal Mail's tracked services, 6 to 7 on International Standard, up to 12 weeks on Economy, and from 4 working days with Parcelforce. Those are aims, not promises, and a biosecurity inspection can add time.

UK to Australia postage costs: what a parcel costs

Australia sits in Royal Mail's World Zone 2. These are the published small parcel prices on 21 October 2026. Online means buying postage at royalmail.com through Click & Drop; the Post Office counter costs more.

Two things jump out. Online is cheaper than the counter, and from 500g up Tracked is cheaper online than Standard, so there's no reason to send a proper parcel untracked. A 1kg box of presents costs £19.40 tracked online, against £29.45 for untracked Standard over the counter.

Heavier than 2kg? International Tracked Heavier starts from £27.50 online and takes up to 20kg. Parcelforce lists globalpriority from £28.80 and globalexpress from £53.20, but those are starting prices across every destination, so get a quote for Australia. Size matters too: a Royal Mail small parcel can be no longer than 60cm, with length, width and depth adding up to under 90cm.

Letters and cards to Australia

A letter to Australia is £3.60 with Royal Mail International Standard, whether you buy postage online or at a Post Office (prices checked 25 October 2026). A letter can weigh up to 100g and measure up to 24cm by 16.5cm and 0.5cm deep, which takes a greetings card, a postcard or a handwritten letter. Royal Mail aims to deliver Standard in 6 to 7 working days, but it is untracked, so you will not see it arrive.

A thick card, or one with something flat tucked in, is a large letter. That goes up to 750g and 35.3cm by 25cm by 2.5cm, and costs a good deal more:

There is no tracked letter for a card. International Tracked starts at large letter size, and Tracked & Signed, which has a £8.60 letter, is a documents service. At 750g the counter price for a tracked large letter is 35p below the online one, which is the only band where that happens. If something flat is near 750g, compare it with a small parcel too. International Tracked small parcel was £18.40 online at 750g.

Do a card or letter need a customs form?

A card that is only personal correspondence does not. Royal Mail's customs guidance says items containing personal correspondence, such as letters and postcards, do not need a CN23. Put a present in the envelope and it is goods. A customs declaration applies, and Australia's biosecurity rules apply to whatever is inside, so describe each item and what it is made from, and skip anything on the biosecurity list further down. The Australia guide gives the form for goods as a CN22 for items worth up to £270 and a CN23 above that.

Posting a birthday card or Christmas card

If you want to send a birthday card to Australia, remember the aim is 6 to 7 working days with no tracking and no promise. We would post it at least a fortnight ahead. For Christmas, our guide to Christmas cards to Australia from the UK has the dates and the last safe week for the postbox.

Customs: the form, and how to describe a gift

Every parcel to Australia needs a customs declaration and electronic customs data. Royal Mail's Australia guide says a CN22 covers items worth up to £270, and a CN23 (in a clear SP 126 wallet from the Post Office) covers anything above that. The easy way is Royal Mail's online customs form: buy postage through Click & Drop and it creates the customs label and sends the data ahead of your parcel.

Describe every item, properly

Australia's Department of Agriculture is blunt about this: 'gift', 'present' or 'goods' are not acceptable descriptions. List each thing, what it's made of, and the packing material too. So not "gift, £40" but "milk chocolate bar, commercially packaged, 2; cotton scarf, 1; paperback book, 1; packed in newspaper". Write it in English, give honest values, and add the recipient's phone number or email, which Royal Mail asks for.

Will they pay duty or GST on a gift?

Usually not. Australian Border Force says goods worth AUD 1,000 or less generally have no duties, taxes or charges to pay at the border. Above that, an Import Declaration and duties apply. Tobacco and alcohol attract duty whatever they're worth. And there's no special allowance for presents: the old gift concession was revoked in 2008, so a gift is treated like any other parcel of goods.

Packing and addressing it for the long haul

Pack it as if it's going to be stacked, dropped and X-rayed, because it is. Use a new, sturdy box: the department says no egg cartons, wooden boxes, boxes that once held fruit, vegetables or meat, or straw, because insects hide in them. Newspaper, foam or bubble wrap is fine. December is summer in Australia, so think twice before posting anything that melts.

How to write an Australian address

Per Royal Mail: suburb, state abbreviation and four-digit postcode on one line in capitals, AUSTRALIA on the last line, and a flat number before the building number with a slash.

Ms Jo Bloggs
4/22 Example Street
NEWTOWN NSW 2042
AUSTRALIA

The state and territory abbreviations are NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, WA, TAS, NT and ACT. Ask them for the exact postcode rather than looking up the suburb yourself.

Tracking it to the door

International Tracked is tracked to the delivery point. Once the parcel clears the border checks, it's released to Australia Post for the final leg, so the last scans are theirs. Send them the tracking number: if anything on the declaration needs checking, they're the one who'll be asked.

The honest alternative: buy from something already in Australia

Posting it yourself has a lot going for it. You choose every item, you can send the exact biscuits from your high street, and wrapping it is half the fun. But if the form, the biosecurity list and the weight bands feel like a lot for one present, buy from a business that's already in Australia, such as these gift hampers delivered in Australia. The gift is packed and delivered there, so it never goes through customs.

That's what we do at Same Skies. Lewis grew up in the UK and moved to Sydney (his mum, Samantha, is still in the UK), and he and Jess pack every box by hand in Sydney. You order from the UK, we send it with Australia Post, and it's a domestic Australian delivery: usually 2 to 5 business days after dispatch to most addresses, longer for regional and remote areas, with free delivery on every box. Prices are shown in pounds as a guide; you pay in Australian dollars and your bank converts at checkout. See how it works.

The Hug Away From Home Box has a Botanical Bath Soak, a Hand-Poured Soy Candle (hand-poured in Australia), Marc de Champagne Truffles, Candy Kittens Strawberry sweets, a Crochet Comfort Companion and an A3 Matte Art Print, unframed, so it suits someone with wall space. For a coffee-and-snacks person, the Gift Box for Him skips the candle. Or build your own box with six or eight gifts. Not sure what to send in the first place? Our gift ideas to send to Australia from the UK sort them by person and by how well they post.

Your words live behind a QR code on a premium card inside the box. You add a message of up to 280 characters for free, plus a photo or a video if you like; they point their phone camera at the code and it opens on their screen.