​Postage Stamps and Postal History of Australia

The six self-governing Australian colonies that formed the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901 operated their own postal service and issued their own stamps – see articles on the systems on New South Wales (first stamps issued 1850), Victoria (1850), Tasmania (1853), Western Australia (1854), South Australia (1855) and Queensland (1860). Section 51(v) of the Australian Constitution empowered the Commonwealth to make laws in respect of “postal, telegraphic, telephonic, and other like services”.

The Commonwealth created the Postmaster-General's Department on 1 March 1901, which took over all the colonial mail systems and the then-current colony stamps. These stamps continued to be valid and became de facto Commonwealth stamps. Some of these stamps continued to be used for some time following the introduction in 1913 of the Commonwealth's uniform postage stamp series. These stamps continued to be valid for postage until 14 February 1966 when the introduction of decimal currency invalidated all stamps bearing the earlier currency.

The "Roo" stamp

The first definitive stamp inscribed "Australia" was a red 1d "Kangaroo and Map" stamp, the design of which was adopted in part from the entry that won the Stamp Design Competition. Although the delay between federation and the first stamps had several causes, one of the major reasons was political wrangling regarding the design. There was a considerable amount of opposition to any inclusion of British royal symbols or profiles. A design completion was announced in 1911, and several designs, including royal profiles were chosen. The government decided on having only one design, and Charlie Frazer, then postmaster-general, inspired the basic outline of the new design. Blamire Young, a local watercolor artist, was commissioned to produce the final design.