Australia Post 4-State Barcode

The Australia Post 4-State barcode is a variable-length, alphanumeric 1D barcode with 37 to 67 bars depending on the chosen format. Reed-Solomon Error correction is employed to detect and correct data transmission errors when possible. This 4-state barcode was developed to increase efficiency in Australia's Postal Service. ¹

Example Barcode

The following example barcode encodes the information 1112345678 as a Australia Post 4-State barcode:

Australia Post 4-State

Details

The Australia Post 4-State barcode encodes 37 to 67 bars of information. There are 3 formats of Australia Post 4-State barcodes: the Standard Customer Barcode, Customer Barcode 2, and Customer Barcode 3. ¹

Barcode Breakdown

Australia Post 4-State barcodes have the following format: ¹

Two Start bars
Four FCC (Format Control Code) bars
Sixteen Sorting Code (Delivery Point ID) bars
Variable -
- Standard Customer Barcode:
  - One filler bar
- Customer Barcode 1:
  - Sixteen Customer Information bars
- Customer Barcode 2:
  - Thirty-one Customer Information bars
Twelve Reed Solomon Error Correction bars
Two Stop bars

FCC Field

The FCC field is a 2-digit (4 bar) field identifying the barcode format: ¹

11 - Standard Customer Barcode
59 - Customer Barcode 2
62 - Customer Barcode 3
52 and 67 - Customer Business Reply Paid
72 and 77 - International Business Reply Paid

If the FCC code is not valid, the confidence will decrease by 10%.

Customer Information Field

This is a variable length section only available in Customer Barcode 2 and 3 formats (with lengths of 16 and 31, respectively). This field can be encoded by the "N" or "C" encoding tables as defined by Australia Post or a proprietary encoding scheme.

Error Correction

As stated above, each format of the Australia Post 4-State barcode contains 12 error correction bars. This allows for data recovery even when up to 2 symbols have errors, or up to 4 symbols to have erasures.

Managing Organization

The Australia Post manages the Australia Post 4-State specification. ¹

Platform-Specific Notes

There is a free format area available in the Customer Barcodes 2 & 3. This will be decoded using the AustralianPostCustomDecodeType.

If the decode mode is "BarStates", then the output will be either bar state "F" full bar, "T" tracker bar, "A" ascending bar, or "D" descending bar.
If the decode mode is "TableN", then the output will be decoded using the numeric decoding defined in the Australian Post specification.
If the decode mode is "TableC", then the output will be decoded using the character decoding defined in the Australian Post specification.
If the decode mode is "NoCustomDecode", then the bars in the custom section are not decoded.
If the decode mode has no custom decode type, use "NoCustomDecode".

There is a free format area available in the Customer Barcodes 2 & 3. This will be decoded using the AustralianPostCustomDecodeType.

If the decode mode is "BarStates", then the output will be either bar state "F" full bar, "T" tracker bar, "A" ascending bar, or "D" descending bar.
If the decode mode is "TableN", then the output will be decoded using the numeric decoding defined in the Australian Post specification.
If the decode mode is "TableC", then the output will be decoded using the character decoding defined in the Australian Post specification.
If the decode mode is "NoCustomDecode", then the bars in the custom section are not decoded.
If the decode mode has no custom decode type, use "NoCustomDecode".

There is a free format area available in the Customer Barcodes 2 & 3. This will be decoded using the BC_AustralianPostCustomDecodeType.

If the decode mode is "BarStates", then the output will be either bar state "F" full bar, "T" tracker bar, "A" ascending bar, or "D" descending bar.
If the decode mode is "TableN", then the output will be decoded using the numeric decoding defined in the Australian Post specification.
If the decode mode is "TableC", then the output will be decoded using the character decoding defined in the Australian Post specification.
If the decode mode is "NoCustomDecode", then the bars in the custom section are not decoded.
If the decode mode has no custom decode type, use "NoCustomDecode".

There is a free format area available in the Customer Barcodes 2 & 3. This will be decoded using the BX_AustralianPostCustomDecodeType.

If the decode mode is "BarStates", then the output will be either bar state "F" full bar, "T" tracker bar, "A" ascending bar, or "D" descending bar.
If the decode mode is "TableN", then the output will be decoded using the numeric decoding defined in the Australian Post specification.
If the decode mode is "TableC", then the output will be decoded using the character decoding defined in the Australian Post specification.
If the decode mode is "NoCustomDecode", then the bars in the custom section are not decoded.
If the decode mode has no custom decode type, use "NoCustomDecode".

Similar Barcode Types

Barcode Variants

The Australia Post 4-State barcode has 3 variants: the Standard Customer Barcode, Customer Barcode 2, and Customer Barcode 3.

Related Barcodes

Australia Post 4-State barcodes are similar to other 4-state barcodes that are common among postage organizations (e.g. Royal Post 4-State, Intelligent Mail).

References

"Customer Barcoding Technical Specifications." Australia Post, Australia Post, Aug. 2012, auspost.com.au/content/dam/auspost_corp/media/documents/customer-barcode-technical-specifications-aug2012.pdf.

For additional background and use-case information see our Australian Post 4-State barcode page.
For more information, see the Barcode Xpress SDK product page or try our online demos.