Key takeaways
- Use recipient, street, then suburb/locality + state code + postcode
- Treat the four-digit postcode as a string identifier
- Keep state abbreviations such as NSW, VIC, and QLD matched to the suburb
- A Traditional Place name may appear between recipient and street
Authorship and review
Read our editorial and review principles- Written by
- Random Address Generator Editorial Team
- Reviewed by
- International Address Format Review Team
- Latest substantive update
- Checked suburb, state abbreviation, four-digit postcode, and Traditional Place-name placement against Australia Post guidance.
Australia Post's three-to-four-line structure
An Australian postal address generally puts the recipient first, street number and name next, and suburb or locality, state or territory abbreviation, and four-digit postcode on the bottom line. International mail adds the country in capitals.
A generic City field often carries the suburb/locality value. Instead of expecting every country to understand a US-shaped City field, relabel it Suburb / locality after Australia is selected.
Data fields and display labels
State and territory codes can be enums, but the suburb and postcode should remain linked in the reference record. Tests should cover more than four digits: confirm that changing the state refreshes any locality suggestions.
| Field | Example | Test assertion |
|---|---|---|
| Address Line 1 | 42 Collins Street | Allow common street types and unit details |
| Suburb / locality | Melbourne | Do not rewrite as a state |
| State | VIC | Submit the contract code even when displaying a full label |
| Postcode | 3000 | Always handle as a string |
| Country | AU | Keep separate from state |
Suburb, state, and postcode move together
Three independently random fields may pass a regex and still make a useless regional test. Select the suburb-state-postcode tuple from one reviewed record.
A productive negative fixture deliberately pairs Sydney with VIC. The product should report a regional mismatch rather than the vague message format error.
- Normal: Melbourne + VIC + 3000
- Negative: Sydney + VIC + 3000
- Boundary: empty Address Line 2
- Layout: long suburb wrapping on mobile
Supporting an optional Traditional Place name
Australia Post allows a Traditional Place name below the recipient or company and above the street. Model it as an optional additional address line rather than forcing it into Suburb or State.
When present, preserve the original Unicode text in exports, print labels, and previews. When absent, do not fill the line with a placeholder.
A format fixture is not a shipping address
Generated premises can exercise UI, API, and database behavior. They do not replace an Australia Post postcode lookup or delivery check. Ask the user to confirm real shipping data before fulfilment.
What a practical Australian address review should inspect
When reviewing an Australian fixture, lock one regional tuple before changing the synthetic street and optional unit line. That separates a regional mismatch from the fact that the premises itself is synthetic. If every click independently changes suburb, state, and postcode, a tester has no stable way to identify which component caused a failure.
Run the same record through three round trips: browser to API, API to database, and database back to the edit form. Compare raw text, normalized values, and the final printable lines at each boundary. This catches a state label that submits its full name, a postcode converted to a number, or an optional line that returns as the literal string null.
Repeat the flow without the address-suggestion service. Manual entry should still work, and the screen should explain the difference between an unchecked address and an invalid format. Finally, inspect narrow mobile widths: a long suburb, Traditional Place name, and inline error can collide even when the desktop card looks comfortable.
- Record the data snapshot version and generation seed
- Assert visible labels, submitted codes, and printable text separately
- Read CSV exports back rather than checking download success
- Rerun the primary path with suggestions unavailable
Frequently asked questions
What goes in City for an Australian address?
Generic international forms commonly use City for the suburb or locality. A localized form should label the field Suburb / locality.
Should an Australian postcode be a number?
Store it as text. A postcode is an identifier, not a value for arithmetic, and text is more consistent in an international schema.
Does a four-digit match mean the address is deliverable?
No. It only looks like an Australian postcode; it does not prove the suburb, street, and premises match.