[1] The first official postal service in Australia was established in April 1809, when the Sydney merchant Isaac Nichols was appointed as the first Postmaster in the colony of NSW.

[1] The appointment of James Barnet as Acting Colonial Architect in 1862 coincided with a considerable increase in funding to the public works program.

The post offices constructed during this period were designed in a variety of architectural styles, as Barnet argued that the local parliamentary representatives always preferred "different patterns".

In 1877 a site for the proposed new post office was selected on a portion of the Government Reserve adjacent to the Court House.

For a cost of £1590 an additional storey, verandah and internal modifications were completed in 1889, with a weatherboard stable building also built in 1889.

[1] Bourke Post Office remains a symbol of the riverboat period of great prosperity in the town and has been the centre of communications to the northwestern region of NSW for over a century.

[1] The building is asymmetrical (the original section having been symmetrical) and has an early single-storey cream painted brick addition to the centre front facade, extending out from beneath the first floor verandah.

There is also a small brass plaque located to the left of the front addition facade indicating the 1890 flood level.

[1] The interior ground floor is divided into three main areas, including the small, carpeted retail area with standard modern Australia Post fitout comprising display wall panelling, security mirrors and laminated counters in a grey colour scheme.

[1] The mail area in particular has been considerably altered, with modern shelving, post boxes, blocked fireplaces and later openings.

The walls to this area are rendered and painted grey and the ground floor retains a c. 1920s plaster and batten ceiling.

The upper floor has a complete new, lowered, plasterboard ceiling and cornice with air conditioning registers installed.

To the western side of the post office is a highly unsympathetic, austere single-storey Telstra exchange building in red brick.

[1] Bourke Post Office is significant at a State level for its historical associations, aesthetic qualities and social meaning.

Bourke Post Office is historically significant because it was the centre of communications for the northwestern region of NSW for over a century.

The form and scale of Bourke Post Office reflects the riverboat period of great prosperity in the town.

Bourke Post Office also provides evidence of the changing nature of postal and telecommunications practices in NSW, particularly in servicing a widely dispersed regional community.

[1] Bourke Post Office was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 23 June 2000 having satisfied the following criteria.

The form and scale of Bourke Post Office also reflect the riverboat period of great prosperity in the town.

[1] Bourke Post Office also provides evidence of the changing nature of postal and telecommunications practices in NSW, particularly in servicing a widely dispersed regional community.

[1] The additions made to Bourke Post Office to improve the accommodation facilities for the residing postmasters reflects the changing requirements and standards in working conditions in NSW.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

The architectural style and location of the building also make it a focal point of the civic precinct of Bourke, endowing it with landmark qualities.

[1] The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.

[1] The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.