The era of having the residential phone book delivered automatically to your door is over in Sydney and Melbourne.
While the White Pages Business and Government Directory will still be delivered to all, the residential phone book will only be delivered to those who order it.
Sydney and Melbourne people needing the home directory to find phone numbers, prop their computer up to the right height, or even up one end of their bookshelves will need to go online, call the hotline or go to Australia Post.
Sensis, which publishes the directories, is not commenting on how the change will affect its print run, but the printer's union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) is saying the print run of the residential directories was cut this year from almost 1.4 million to 165,000 in each city.
White Pages group manager Peter Barclay said on Wednesday most people no longer needed a residential phone book and were instead going online or using mobile phones and personal books to search for people's numbers and address.
The change is being piloted this year after consultation with groups such as the Council on the Ageing (COTA) and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN).
Mr Barclay said he was confident groups such as the elderly would still be able to get the residential phone book if they wished to, by ordering it on the phone or over the internet, or by picking it up from Australia Post.
"While more and more consumers are using digital platforms to search for residential contact information, parts of the population still rely on the printed version of the White Pages residential book," Mr Barclay said in a statement.
All businesses and households in Australia's other capital cities and in regional areas will continue to automatically receive both the business and the home directories.
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