North Goulburn postie Josh Burns has been on his beat for 29 years and once worked with the legendary Wendell Rosewarne, who died in 2018. Photo: John Thistleton.
Posties have been around neighbourhoods for generations, are respected in their communities and set people alight with excitement when they deliver a parcel.
And yet motorists are blind to their local posties when they are sharing the road with them in their separate vehicles.
Wearing a bright yellow top, driving an equally visible light yellow three-wheel electric vehicle, posties in Goulburn are often having to take swift, evasive action to avoid a collision.
Their customers’ indifference is inexplicable says Denise Howarth, Goulburn Mail Delivery Centre’s Postal Delivery Co-ordinator and acting Manager.
“They’re big, yellow and bright,” Denise said, describing the delivery vehicles. “But one of the most common things is a car will cut in front of them or fail to give way or the driver looks straight through them and does not realise the impact their behaviour is having on our guys.”
Goulburn’s posties and roadside mailbox contractors are delivering 80,000 parcels a month. In the first three weeks of December, almost 123,000 parcels were delivered in the run-up to Christmas. The figures are rising every year due to online shopping.
Australia Post’s eCommerce Report 2026 shows Australians spent a record $82.6 billion in 2025, which is up almost 14 per cent year on year.
So making sure posties get through their rising workload safely is a hot topic of conversation at delivery staff meetings in Goulburn.
“Dogs are the biggest pain for a postie or even a driver,” Denise said. “So many times we hear the comment referring to their dogs, ‘They won’t hurt you’. Sadly it is not the case. We have had a number of our guys bitten by dogs,” she said.
Citronella spray deters some dogs, but not all of them and an aggressive dog attack can leave a postie traumatised.
“If I was attacked by a dog and severely hurt, the last thing I would want to do is go back out and do the same thing again,” Denise said.
Making sure posties are safe and come home from work injury-free is always front of mind for Goulburn Mail Delivery Centre’s Postal Delivery Co-ordinator and acting Manager Denise Howarth. Photo: John Thistleton.
Staying safe on the road and around neighbourhoods is front of mind at the Goulburn Mail Delivery Centre in Copford Road, Bradfordville.
The lights come on and roller doors open at 3:30 am at the delivery centre, when mail trucks roll in from Sydney and Canberra. The pre-dawn start is needed to give up to 40 contract drivers and 20 posties, who clock on at 6 am, enough daylight hours to complete their deliveries.
“The guys need the time to go out and deliver, they need a couple of hours to sort their product, where they are going, which direction they’re going,” Denise said.
“We do not like to have any of our guys on the road when it is too late because it becomes a safety issue,” she said. “We want everyone to get home safe and sound, every day.”
Goulburn is the headquarters for a widespread network that extends to Yass, Breadalbane, Crookwell, Tuena, Wombeyan Caves and Windellama and Bungonia. Contractors travel 10,000 kilometres a week delivering mainly parcels.
The delivery centre closes at 6 pm after the last truck leaves.
Live crickets and worms for pet food travel in the mail as do live fish in an Esky with an oxygen supply and strict deadline. Even live bees are packaged and dispatched to customers.
Once letters dominated the delivery business. Now it’s parcels on a grand scale.
“Everyone is so excited to get their parcels,” Denise said. “Quite frequently they will say, ‘Ahh, what is it?’ as if we know because they forget that they have shopped for it.
“Once they remember, they’re so excited. ‘Oh, we’ve been waiting for this!’ And you can just see them light up, they’re so excited they’ve got their parcel.
“Whereas the letters, you tend to get bills and people aren’t as excited about them, surprisingly.”
Ian Pitkethly organises his deliveries before setting off on his beat in central Goulburn. Photo: John Thistleton.
“If you think of the younger generation now, they don’t tend to get as much mail because they are so used to technology,” she said. “As time goes on generations are relying less on physical mail.”
Artificial intelligence is likely to encroach on operations along with other technology, but Denise believes it will never replace delivery staff and face-to-face customer service.
“If that ever changed you would lose the personal touch,” she said. “The community know their posties. They are a figure the community trusts. Posties have been in the community for so long.”
