Beat the Santa scramble with Australia Post's Christmas parcel deadlines

Australia Post has just announced final mailing and cut-off dates to provide Australians with certainty to ensure their parcels, cards, and letters arrive in time for Christmas.

But these dates are based on parcel post between metro hubs, and Australia Post advised customers to allow extra time for regional and remote deliveries.

"Sending to and from Western Australia, Northern Territory, Tasmania, or regional and remote locations should allow a few extra days," Australia Post said.

If sent to an address in the same state, Australia Post recommends having all parcels in the mail before 2.30pm on December 22.

Parcels should be sent by 2.30pm on December 19 if their destination is in another Australian state or territory.

For last-minute shoppers, the cut-off date for Express Post parcels is December 23. However, people in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania should aim to have their Express Post parcels mailed by December 22.

Letters and cards must be sent by December 16 for interstate mail, and December 18 for addresses in the same state.

International postage deadlines differ between countries, but Australia Post generally recommends sending Economy Air post by November 21.

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Standard international mail should be sent by November 28, and the deadline for International Express is December 5.

A full list of sending dates is available on the Australia Post site.