Maybe this problem has its roots in Australia Post’s allocation of postcodes.

Jindera’s postcode is 2642, which is shared with the following towns and places: Bidgeemia, Yerong Creek, Jingellic, Glenellen, Burrumbuttock, Brocklesby, Jagumba, Gerogery, Walbundrie, Rand, Indi, Murray Gorge, Welaregang, Greg Greg, Geehi, Jagungal Wilderness, Wrathall, Tooma and Khancoban.

When one postcode covers such a large and fragmented geographic area, efficiency must be affected.

Unless Australia Post has some new-fangled device that can sort mail by identifying a town by name, logic suggests any mail for postcode 2642 must be manually sorted into the respective towns.

This anomaly could go a long way explaining why mail for any town with a postcode 2642 could go astray or be delayed.

Another by-product of this anomaly is it could make residents of one 2642 geographic area pay for something that occurs in another 2642 geographic area.

For instance, say Khancoban is declared a bushfire-prone area, and insurance companies increase their premiums or put several caveats on household insurance for that area, it is possible the increases will be applied to all locations with a 2642 postcode.

Khancoban is many kilometres from Jindera and other towns with the postcode 2642, and therefore it would seem unfair why a town at the base of the Great Dividing Range should affect a town many kilometres away that may have little or no chance of being declared a fire-prone area.

The same argument could be applied to flooding or a high-crime rate.

Australia Post wants efficiency but appears to still maintain an archaic mail-sorting process.

— GREG FINSTER,

Jindera