Default search option is "postcode number" and “delivery area” as postcode type. Typing numbers in text input box activates “autocomplete” function that returns a list of matching records. Selection of postcode of interest is performed with a mouse click and information about that postcode appears in “Results” tab. To activate location/suburb search mode just select relevant control under the input text box in “Search” tab.
There are additional search parameters that can be set in “Filters” tab. “Delivery area” postcode type is a default. Two other options include “Post office boxes only” and “All types”, which allows searching for Large Volume Receiver postal numbers, delivery area and post office boxes in one go. It is compact by size but not less powerful than postcode search function available on Australia Post site.
The widget can be embedded in any website with a simple line of code. Full postcode finder widget setup instruction is provided on aus-emaps.com site. It is also available as a Google Gadget.
Additional information for users
Australia Post datafile has quite a complex structure so, it is important to highlight certain relationships between records in that file to explain some interesting results of searches. In particular, although Australia Post separates “delivery area” type of postcodes from “post office boxes” type, there are instances of “delivery area” type postcodes that have post office boxes as well. Confusing? Here is an example to illustrate:
Postcode 2020 in NSW is listed as “delivery area” type with the following locations: MASCOT, SYDNEY DOMESTIC AIRPORT, SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. However, the last two items have additional flag in comments field: “PO Boxes”. Hence, postcode number search for “2020” will return the following information:
Post Code: 2020 (NSW)
Type: Delivery Area
Localities: MASCOT
PO Boxes in: SYDNEY DOMESTIC AIRPORT, SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Locality/ suburb search for “Mascot” will return the following information:
MASCOT (NSW) is in 2020
Other localities in 2020: SYDNEY DOMESTIC AIRPORT (PO Boxes), SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (PO Boxes)
And the result for “Sydney Domestic Airport” will show the following:
SYDNEY DOMESTIC AIRPORT (NSW) is in 2020
Comments: PO Boxes
Other localities in 2020: MASCOT, SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (PO Boxes)
Another example of slightly confusing result is when search is for locations with non-unique names. For example:
There are two instances of “Darlington” in NSW, each falling in different postcode. In order to distinguish between the two locations Australia Post adds a reference to nearby locality in “Comments” field. It helps with searching as well. In particular, in case of Darlington there will be two distinct search options available to select from: “DARLINGTON (NSW) Chippendale” and “DARLINGTON (NSW) Singleton". However, the result will contain a comment that may appear a bit out of place, for example:
DARLINGTON (NSW) is in 2008
Comments: Chippendale
Other localities in 2008: CHIPPENDALE
Australia Post publishes regular updates of the datafile and it is available for free download from the following address: http://auspost.com.au/apps/postcode.html
Other related tools from aus-emaps.com
This free postcode finder widget is actually the fifth in the series of postcode focused tools that I developed for aus-emaps.com site. The first one was a thematic map with postcode and suburb boundary overlays. I followed it with more advanced version called Postcode Finder and soon after added demographic maps and demographic data tools containing information from 2006 Census of population and housing published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. There is still more to come. Stay tuned!
Your comments and suggestions for improvements, as usual, most welcome!
Related post:
Sales Area Management Tool with Postcodes
Map of Australian Postcodes
State postcode maps
Post code maps and population statistics
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