I’ve been contacting AusPost regularly for the last couple of months to ask when the new postmarks would be on their site (given they’re no longer in Stamp Bulletin), and, after multiple rounds of ‘in another week or two’, they’re finally here!
The ‘Gateway to the Rainforests’ one is quite pretty!
I am puzzled regarding the Kyogle pictorial postmark - a new one was issued in 2020 and under normal circumstances would still be in use. Maybe it was lost ! Stanley is even more puzzling, the PO issued a pictorial in 2022 and the one shown is identical to it.
Generally speaking pictorial postmarks last for around ten years, after this time the correct year will not show in the dateline.
The non-pictorial counter date stamps shown are referred to as pictorial types by Australia Post, why do they do this?
You raise some very good points! Maybe we should petition for a Q&A with someone from the postmarking department…
As it stands, my enquires for postmark info are almost always unanswered.
I was just looking at these on the website, and I thought “If anyone knows why they do this, it’s Bowyum”, so I came here to ask you, and now I have my answer! 
Sorry that I have no explanation for the listing of these non-pictorial types :). I think they first appeared in the Bulletin in 2022, I must admit that I haven’t been taking much notice of them, as I find that keeping track of the actual pictorial ones gives me enough to do .
The pictorial for Condamine, just announced, is the first one to be used at this post office. According to my records this brings the total number of post offices which have ever issued at least one pictorial postmark to 781 - I am missing two of them. The actual number of pictorials issued by these POs is 1345. I am missing around a dozen of them. This does not include all the slightly altered unannounced replacements obtained over the years, many hundreds of these.
That’s amazing! Do you have (or know where to find) a list that you are willing to share? I’m always trying to find specific topics for self-made maxis but AusPost don’t make it simple!
I actually did some proper, first person research, in-between my first post and now. On the way home from work, I stopped in to the Fitzroy South PO. She had no idea about it, and we compared the postmark they use daily with what is shown on the website, and they are indeed identical. But she was as flumoxed as the rest of us.
I actually started compiling a list once - initially just pulling the data from the website, but with the aim of going wider. I need to revive that project.
I am working on a list of current pictorials - of course the only way to be sure a postmark is current is to obtain or see an example dated 2024, so there is no cast iron guarantee that every one listed is still available. For instance, I assumed that the pictorial allocated to GPO Melbourne Post Shop in 2021, depicting a historic
postbox was still available until I discovered that it closed in February this year. There are around 300 pictorials currently available as far as I know.
Oh that’s disappointing to hear about the Melbourne GPO — I was sending a friend to post some cards there with it for me next week!
Anyway, I’d be really grateful to see your list (complete or not) when you’re ready to share 
Same goes for @helent, and please let me know if I could be of help. At the moment I’ve got a really sophisticated system of screenshots on my phone 
I received a handwritten note back from Sprintpak about postmarks: “Unfortunately we are unable to give out information about postmarks”.
I was in Chatswood yesterday getting copies of the new temp. pictorial (didn’t get any good impressions, they were all put on top of the stamp but I guess that’s an incentive to go back). Interestingly it was self-inking, I haven’t seen a self-inking pictorial before!
EDITED to add:
Valentine NSW (near Gosford) doesn’t have a pictorial but they do have a very sweet heart shaped rubber stamp which they use on the back of envelopes with red ink inscribed “Posted from Valentine with love”.
I finally did it, I have finished my compilation of the postmarks on the Auspost site.
Check out the spreadsheet here
Everyone’s welcome to check it out, and please let me know if you spot any errors (I scraped the data off their site and tidied it in excel, so might have missed something along the way).
At the moment, this is entirely based on the website, so if anyone knows of an additional postmark, let me know and I can add it (I know there is one at Glenrowan that I have a copy of somewhere).
And also, check out this absolute beauty that has just come out!
Pure gold!
Thank you Helen!
Thank you Helen!
4 that I know exist that aren’t in the catalogue:
Sydney GPO has a permanent of their Clocktower with the Text “SYDNEY GPO”
the Haymarket PO in Sydney has one of Railway Square with 3 trains (steam-diesel-XPT), the text “HAYMARKET / N.S.W. 2000 / Railway Square - Sydney” enclosed in a stylised NSW shape.
Campbelltown NSW has one of “Fisher’s Ghost”
Warragamba NSW 2752 recently renewed theirs which shows the famous Dam, it’s square shaped which I think is pretty cool
All the best!
Grafton NSW 2460 has two pictorials, Jacaranda trees and Clarence River Bridge.
Amazing, thank you! Adelaide GPO has a permanent pictorial of the old GPO clock tower (says ‘Philatelic Sales Centre’, and the Adelaide Sturt St location is closed so, as far as I’m aware, that one is no longer available.
Two recently sighted pictorials from the Melbourne area - St. Kilda Road VIC 3004, depicting the Shrine of Remembrance and Richmond VIC 3121, depicting A.F.L.”Home of the Tigers”
I write to P.O.s that had pictorials announced in the Stamp Bulletin years ago to find out if the postmarks are still available. Townsville QLD 4810 post office introduced a pictorial in 1982, depicting Brolgas and the sun over Castle Hill. A redesigned but basically the same image was obtained in 2010. No pictorial was available when I requested it a few years later. A further request made last year yielded a pictorial that was identical to the 2010 one. It must be a replacement as postmarks only last for around ten years at the most. It hopefully still available.
My mail today brought two new cancellations!
This one was on an envelope returned from the Philatelic Bureau. I am all for them to do on the stuff the return to me!
And this one from a forum friend.
Interesting to see a Philatelic Bureau version of Bundaberg’s sea turtle pictorial - I have a PO strike dated January of this year, slightly different from the Bureau one. I have no recollection of it being officially announced, either in the Bulletin or online. Anyone know when it was first issued? Bundaberg has been using a sea turtle design on its pictorial postmark since 1980 but the last time it was mentioned in the Bulletin was in 1993 as far as I know. The current one appears to be an “unannounced official “ pictorial.
