StarTrack Tracking

StarTrack is Australia Post's business freight and express arm, the operator behind the blue vans that move pallets, cartons and multi-article consignments between Australian businesses rather than the red network that carries ordinary mail. Most people who need StarTrack tracking are receiving something a retailer, wholesaler or repairer sent on a business account, and the number they hold is a consignment number rather than a postal article number. The carrier runs six named service lines, from same-day Courier and Next Flight through to Road Express and Security Express, holds priority cargo space on more than 1,000 passenger flights a day, and operates 11 dedicated freighter aircraft under its Qantas Freight arrangement. Its maximum shipment weight of 21,000 kg is the clearest signal of who the network was built for.

StarTrack Tracking After the Australia Post Website Merge

StarTrack remains a live, separately branded Australia Post service in July 2026, but its website is being folded into auspost.com.au. StarTrack Express Pty Limited still trades as StarTrack under ABN 44 001 227 890, still runs its own Track and Trace tool, still answers its own support line on 13 23 45, and still sells Premium, Road Express, Courier, Next Flight, Special Services and Security Express under the StarTrack name.

What is changing is the digital front door. StarTrack has published a transition notice with a firm date:

"From 15 July 2026, we're making it easier for you to access the services and information you need by bringing together our Australia Post, StarTrack and StarTrack Courier websites into one streamlined experience." (StarTrack, "StarTrack is moving", 2026.)

The same notice confirms the services survive the move, promising access to "all our StarTrack services on a new, harmonised website". A StarTrack consignment number therefore does not expire, does not need converting, and does not stop working. It keeps resolving in the StarTrack Track and Trace tool and, because both brands already share one tracking backend, on Australia Post's tracking page and in the AusPost app.

The two fleets have been pooled for years, which is why the brand a parcel arrives under is not always the brand that sold the freight. StarTrack's own help centre puts it plainly:

"StarTrack is now a business of Australia Post and delivers some Australia Post parcels." (StarTrack, Help and support, 2026.)

The practical rule for a recipient is to track the number, not the logo. Whichever of the two sites the number is entered into, the events come from the same scan record.

StarTrack Tracking Number Format

StarTrack calls its primary identifier a consignment number, and that is the term used on the consignment note, in its support scripts and in the Missed Delivery tool. A consignment is a container: one consignment number can cover many physical items, each carrying its own article ID and barcode on its own label. This is the core difference between StarTrack and a parcel post carrier, and it is why the tracker shows a "Parcel 1 of N" switcher when a Road Express consignment of cartons is opened.

StarTrack does not publish a public specification for the consignment number, and the pattern varies because numbers are issued against the sender's account range. What the carrier does enforce is visible in its own tracking tool: an entry may be up to 50 characters, may contain only the letters A to Z, the digits 0 to 9 and the symbols _, :, # and -, and up to ten numbers may be checked in one search. Consignment numbers commonly seen in circulation run to 12 characters of mixed letters and digits, but the leading characters do not reliably indicate which service was used, so a prefix should never be read as a service code.

Australia Post treats the two identifier families as interchangeable inputs. Its Track Items API accepts "a comma separated list of Australia Post tracking numbers or a comma separated list of StarTrack consignment numbers", which confirms that a single lookup serves both brands.

Where to Find Your StarTrack Tracking Number

Because StarTrack is a business carrier, the consignment number nearly always originates with the sender rather than with the recipient. StarTrack's help centre states that the merchant or sender should be able to provide the tracking number, and the usual places it surfaces are:

• The dispatch or shipping confirmation email sent by the retailer, wholesaler or repairer.
• The consignment note and the printed label on the carton, satchel or pallet.
• The order or shipment page in the sender's account portal.
• The "Sorry We Missed You" card left after a failed delivery attempt.
• The collection notification sent by email, app or SMS.
• My StarTrack Online, for senders despatching on a StarTrack account.

An order number is not a consignment number. Order references such as REF987654 are the sender's own bookkeeping and travel through the shipping API as sender references rather than tracking IDs, so they return nothing in the tracker. A consignment number is also required, alongside photo identification, to collect a held item from a Post Office, Business Hub or StarTrack depot.

StarTrack Tracking Number Example

Four identifier types can appear on a StarTrack shipment, and only two of them are trackable. The table sets out what each one is and where it is seen.

StarTrack Tracking Status Guide

StarTrack and Australia Post share one status vocabulary of ten plain-English milestones, so the label shown against a StarTrack consignment is identical to the one shown against a red-network parcel. Road Express consignments record an average of five scanning points between pickup and delivery, fewer than a consumer parcel network produces, and that is the main reason a StarTrack consignment can sit on one status for a day or more.

Alongside the milestone, the tracker carries a separate delivery-estimate flag with four values: On time, Expected Today, Updated and Late. A consignment can therefore read "It's on its way" and "Late" at the same time, which means the goods are still moving but have missed the original estimate.

Why StarTrack Tracking Is Not Updating or Not Working

A StarTrack consignment that has stopped moving on screen is usually stalled at one of six identifiable points, and the fix differs for each.

Awaiting the first scan. "Label created by sender" means the sender has printed a label but StarTrack has not collected or scanned the freight. Nothing will change until the consignment is manifested and picked up, and on a business account that can be a day or more after the dispatch email lands. This is the single most common reason a brand new StarTrack number returns no events.

Long gaps between depot scans. Road Express records an average of five scans across the whole journey, so a Sydney to Perth consignment can legitimately show no new event for two or three days while it is on a linehaul leg. A quiet tracker is not evidence of a lost consignment on a freight network in the way it would be on a parcel network.

The consignment was manifested late. StarTrack's own transit rule is explicit: "For consignments manifested after 6:00pm (18:00hours) local time, add an additional transit day to the delivery time estimates (+1)." An item that looks a day late is often a day behind the estimate the sender quoted, and on schedule by StarTrack's.

Failed delivery and a depot or Post Office hold. After an attempted delivery the item moves to "Awaiting collection" and stops. Nothing further scans until a redelivery, a redirection or a depot collection is requested through the Missed Delivery tool, and StarTrack returns the item to the sender after 10 business days of inactivity.

Wrong number, or the wrong kind of number. The tracker rejects anything over 50 characters or containing symbols outside _, :, # and -, and it returns "We couldn't find that tracking number" for an order reference typed in place of a consignment number. An unrecognised number is far more often a sender reference than a lost consignment.

Dangerous, oversize or manual-handling freight. StarTrack adds a full business day to its transit estimate for dangerous goods, oversize goods and goods requiring manual handling. A pallet of restricted stock is not late at the moment the standard estimate expires.

When a consignment genuinely has not moved, the sender is the right first contact: they hold the account, the manifest and any Transit Warranty on the freight. If the sender cannot help, StarTrack takes tracking enquiries on 13 23 45.

Freight and Express Services Compared

StarTrack sells six named service lines, and the tracking behaviour of a consignment follows directly from which one the sender chose. Same-day services record as few as three touch points, while Road Express averages five.

The transit-time estimator on StarTrack's site also exposes the product variants a sender picks between, including Fixed Price Premium, Premium Airlock, Fixed Price Airlock and the StarTrack Premium Box. Airlock is the one worth knowing as a recipient: on an Airlock consignment only the nominated person may sign, and the driver validates and records four digits of the recipient's identification on delivery.

Delivery and Transit Times

StarTrack publishes no fixed national transit matrix and instead quotes lane-by-lane estimates through a transit-time tool that takes the sender's and receiver's suburb or postcode plus the chosen service. The figures below are estimates drawn from StarTrack's own service descriptions and are guides, not guarantees.

• Premium targets next business day, but only inside the defined premium network, which StarTrack describes as operating between capital cities excluding Darwin plus some major centres. Outside that footprint the next-day target does not apply.
• Next Flight is the same-day interstate option and runs 365 days a year, excluding Christmas Day for all but eligible emergency movements. It draws on priority cargo space across more than 1,000 passenger flights a day, on Qantas, Jetstar, Rex, QantasLink, Airnorth and Alliance, plus 11 dedicated freighter aircraft and 5,000+ contingency and recovery options.
• Courier delivers within the same day inside metro same-day networks only, with booking cut-offs that vary by location.
• Road Express transit depends entirely on the lane. Intrastate metro lanes are short; long interstate lanes such as the east coast to Perth run several days.

Three published rules reliably shift an estimate. Consignments manifested after 6:00 PM local time gain an extra transit day. Dangerous goods, oversize goods and goods needing manual handling gain an additional business day and attract extra charges. Deliveries addressed to a PO Box or an Australia Post Parcel Locker need one or more extra business days on top of the quoted figure.

Missed Deliveries, Depot Holds and Redelivery

StarTrack holds an undelivered item for a maximum of 10 business days before returning it to the sender, and that clock is the most important number for a recipient chasing a stalled consignment. After a failed attempt the driver leaves a "Sorry We Missed You" card at the door or in the letterbox, or a collection notification arrives by email, app or SMS.

Where the item goes next depends on the card. If it says the item went back to the Post Office, it must be collected there, it is generally available from the next business day, and it is held for around 10 business days with a reminder issued after five. Post Office holds cannot be redirected or redelivered.

If the item went back to a StarTrack depot or a Business Hub, the Missed Delivery tool offers three routes: redelivery to the original address, redirection to a different address, or collection from the depot. Redelivery and redirection complete within 48 hours of the form being submitted, and either can be blocked by the sender, who specifies whether the consignment is eligible.

Depot collection is never same-day, because the item only returns to the depot after the driver finishes the route and then has to be processed. A customer service consultant makes contact within one business day with the facility address and collection times. Photo identification, meaning a state or federal photo ID such as a driver's licence, proof-of-age card, boat licence or passport, plus the consignment number, is required at the counter. Depots do not open on public holidays, and redelivery and redirection requests are not processed on them either.

Authority to Leave behaves differently on StarTrack than on a consumer network. On Premium it is a preauthorised service, and where a delivery is judged unsafe or impossible the item is carded and sent to a nearby Post Office or an Australia Post Parcel Locker rather than being left at the door. Where an item is delivered to a Parcel Locker, the entry PIN issued to the receiver serves as proof of delivery and satisfies any signature-on-delivery requirement.

Transit Warranty, Loss and Damage Claims

StarTrack's compensation product is called Transit Warranty, it is available as an add-on across all StarTrack products, and it carries no excess on claims. It is bought by the sender, not the recipient, which is why StarTrack directs the recipient of a lost or damaged item to the sender first: the sender can replace the goods and is the party that may have taken the warranty out.

Senders arrange cover by lodging the Transit Warranty form with their StarTrack customer account number, and a separate quotation form is required for declared values above $5,000. Claims are lodged online or on the claim form and returned to transit.warranty@startrack.com.au. Where consignments are consolidated through the shipping API, warranty behaves differently by contract type: an automatic warranty amount applies once to the consolidated shipment, while manually requested amounts accumulate across the shipments merged into it.

Australia Post business customers who bought Transit Cover rather than Transit Warranty claim through a different channel, the Business Support Portal or 13 76 78. Where neither cover was purchased, StarTrack notes that compensation may still be available under Australian Consumer Law in certain circumstances, typically a refund of the amount paid to send the article. Proof of lodgement is a precondition, and claims are excluded where the item was inadequately packed or contained prohibited goods.

Which Countries Does StarTrack Deliver To?

StarTrack international tracking is, strictly speaking, a misnomer: StarTrack is a domestic Australian network and runs no overseas delivery arm of its own. Its own description is unambiguous, calling itself a parcel, freight and logistics company that can ship parcels overseas with Australia Post's international delivery service. An international consignment sent by a StarTrack customer therefore moves onto Australia Post rails for the export leg, and Australia Post reaches more than 220 countries and territories through its international products.

Domestically, StarTrack reaches street addresses, business premises, Australia Post Parcel Lockers, PO Boxes and Post Offices across every state and territory, and it is the pooled Australia Post and StarTrack fleet that makes that reach possible. Coverage is not uniform, though, and the exclusions are published rather than implied:

• Premium next business day operates between capital cities excluding Darwin, plus some major centres. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and Hobart lanes sit inside it; remote and regional destinations frequently do not.
• Special Services runs between capital cities excluding Darwin, and for Perth between CBDs only. Everything else is by prior arrangement.
• Courier is confined to the metro same-day networks of major cities.
• Road Express is the broadest line, running intrastate and interstate B2B lanes nationally.

For senders whose freight is too small for a StarTrack account, the Australian market splits along a clear line. Consumer and small-business parcels go to Australia Post or to a small-parcel carrier such as Sendle, while pallets and bulk freight go to StarTrack or to a competing freight operator such as Toll. StarTrack sits firmly on the freight side of that line, and its 21,000 kg maximum shipment weight, recorded in the Australia Post Developer Centre business rules, is the plainest statement of it.

Cross-Border Handoff and Restricted Freight

The handoff on an outbound international StarTrack shipment is to Australia Post, and from that point the consignment is governed by Australia Post's international product rules, its customs declarations and the destination post's own network. Australia Post international contracts and MyPost Business accounts are the mechanism, and the identifier changes with the handoff: the export leg is tracked on an Australia Post international article number, not on the StarTrack consignment number.

Domestically it is the nature of the freight, not a border, that triggers special handling. StarTrack accepts permitted dangerous goods on Road Express, but only with prior consent, and it states that consignments containing dangerous goods, oversize goods or goods otherwise requiring manual handling attract both an extra business day and additional charges. The sender must comply with all packaging requirements and any directions given, and StarTrack maintains a published prohibited and restricted goods guide that governs what the network will carry.

The unit types StarTrack recognises show how far the network sits from parcel post. Its shipping API requires a packaging type on every shipment, and the accepted values are carton (CTN), pallet (PAL), satchel (SAT), bag (BAG), envelope (ENV), item (ITM), jiffy bag (JIF) and skid (SKI), the last defined as up to 500 kg.

Marketplace Collaborations

StarTrack does not contract with marketplaces under its own name the way a consumer courier does; it wins the freight through Australia Post business accounts, and the marketplace's own carrier list determines whether a given order ever touches the blue network. StarTrack confirms the arrangement from its side, stating that it delivers some Australia Post parcels and that which of the two brands turns up depends on the location and the situation.

Amazon Australia and Kogan both name Australia Post among their delivery partners, and that is the channel through which StarTrack-carried items reach Australian buyers. The routing is worth understanding before assuming a blue van is coming: Kogan's own help centre tells buyers that smaller items are generally delivered by Australia Post, while larger items go to other freight carriers such as Allied Express and Toll IPEC. A marketplace order is therefore no guarantee of a StarTrack consignment, and the dispatch email remains the only reliable indicator of which carrier holds the goods.

Where StarTrack shows up consistently is on the goods marketplaces are least suited to shipping as parcels: bulky homewares, appliances, furniture, and pallets of stock moving into a seller's warehouse before anything is listed. Premium, integrated with more than 100 eCommerce platform partners, is the line that carries marketplace parcels the last mile to consumers, and it is the reason a StarTrack consignment number can arrive with a purely consumer purchase.

About StarTrack

StarTrack was founded in 1974 as Multigroup Distribution Services in Dee Why, Sydney, by Greg Poche, traded as Discount Freight Express from 1982, and took the StarTrack Express name in 2001. Australia Post and Qantas bought the business jointly in December 2003 on a 50/50 basis, and in November 2012 Australia Post acquired Qantas's half, making StarTrack a wholly owned Australia Post business. In 2014 Australia Post split itself into a red arm for mail and retail and a blue arm for parcels and logistics, with StarTrack as the blue brand, and it absorbed Mail Call Couriers in January 2016. The recorded history of the business is unusually continuous for an Australian freight name: two changes of owner in fifty years, and it has never left the express road freight market.

The legal entity is StarTrack Express Pty Limited, trading as StarTrack, ABN 44 001 227 890, headquartered in Strawberry Hills, New South Wales. It operates depots and agents nationally, alongside the Post Offices and Business Hubs it shares with its parent, and it holds a strategic air arrangement with Qantas Freight giving it priority access to cargo space on more than 1,000 flights a day and exclusive use of 11 dedicated freighter aircraft.

Its parent is the context that matters most. StarTrack is the business unit through which Australia Post's parcel and freight work reaches Australian businesses, and the two networks are already pooled: StarTrack consignments are delivered to, and held at, the same Post Offices, Business Hubs and Parcel Lockers as red-network parcels, and both brands read from one scan record. The July 2026 website consolidation simply brings their digital presence into line with an operational merger that happened years earlier.