A series of calculations for the first- and second-row post-d elements (Ga-Br and In-I) are presented using the phaseless auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AF QMC) method. This method is formulated in a Hilbert space defined by any chosen one-particle basis and maps the many-body problem into a linear combination of independent-particle solutions with external auxiliary fields. The phase/sign problem is handled approximately by the phaseless formalism using a trial wave function, which in our calculations was chosen to be the Hartree-Fock solution. We used the consistent correlated basis sets of Peterson et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 119, 11099 (2003); 119, 11113 (2003)], which employ a small-core relativistic pseudopotential. The AF QMC results are compared with experiment and with those from density functional (generalized gradient approximation and B3LYP) and CCSD(T) calculations. The AF QMC total energies agree with CCSD(T) to within a few millihartrees across the systems and over several basis sets. The calculated atomic electron affinities, ionization energies, and spectroscopic properties of dimers are, at large basis sets, in excellent agreement with experiment.