One in three pieces of international mail opened by authorities in the past year contained something illegal or banned.
Almost 61 million international mail items were inspected by Australian Border Force officers in 2016/17 - about 20 million more than a few years ago.
More than 236,000 were then physically examined on suspicion that something wasn't right.
About 81,000 - or 32 per cent - of those resulted in the detection of an illicit good or prohibited item - from drugs to firearms.
Last financial year, about 18.7 tonnes of tobacco was detected in international mail - equating to 44 million cigarettes.
The form drugs arrive varies, from a handful of cannabis seeds or a couple of pills to tens of kilograms of illicit products.
"By virtue of what we're seeing, the hit rate on narcotics is certainly the highest rate," Acting Assistant Commissioner James Watson told a parliamentary inquiry into Australia's border arrangements in Canberra.
He said the ease and speed of sending mail from overseas made it a vector for the distribution of illicit goods.
"The number of items which are being sent internationally is by no means reducing and as a result of that we see our detection rates continuing."
About 150 million pieces of international mail come to Australia every year, the committee was told.
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