The first postage stamps in Australia and Oceania began to be printed in 1913. Surcharge stamps have been issued since 1902. Australia has been a member of the Universal Postal Union since 1907. In 1901, a unified postal service was created, which was administered by the Commonwealth Post Office, established on March 1, 1901. Uniform postal rates were introduced throughout the Union on 1 May 1911 due to the extension of the UK domestic postal rate of 1 penny per half ounce to Australia as it was part of the British Empire. Thus, 1 penny became the universal domestic postal rate.