To hear Erin Devlin tell it, the role of the humble neighbourhood postie is more community service, more performance than just delivering the mail.

And she'd be right. She joined Australia Post during the pandemic at a time when post became even more important to our everyday lives.

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An astounding 73.1 per cent more purchases were made online in 2021 compared to 2019.

A report by Deloitte found that Australia Post helped businesses survive COVID-19 - 63 per cent of surveyed businesses say the post office was vital for their business surviving COVID-19, and 54 per cent say it saved jobs.

Amazingly, post offices rank as the third most trusted institution, after the doctors and the police.

Miss Devlin's role is especially crucial, as she is the last remaining postie who walks a beat in Wagga.

She delivers mail the length and breadth of Wagga's Baylis and Fitzmaurice streets come rain or shine, and she just loves the job.

She sets off from the Marketplace with an average of 50 parcels and 100 or so letters to deliver on her beat, which is between 13 and 15 kms depending on her load, taking her between three and four hours each day.

At a time when most things are done online, and most mail is delivered via motorbike or courier, Miss Devlin's role is one of the few customer-facing postie jobs left in town.

She delivers to all the businesses on the main street, and everywhere she goes people say hello, ask her for directions or just stop her for a natter.

And she's made for the job. Constantly smiling and laughing, it's like she's got her own private joke going, but one that she'll happily let you in on.

Teresa from WorkLocker on Baylis Street beams as Miss Devlin enters the shop on a frigid winter morning.

"You get to know her, even when we don't have post we chat," she said.

"That's what you want, it's a connection, we have to have that with our customers and I think the postie has got to have the connection with us as retailers.

"One good thing about a small country town is we've still got a connection."

Miss Devlin, 39, has had a lot of jobs on her journey to becoming a postie.

Originally from Tullibigeal, she started out as a nurse in aged care, before heading to Queensland where she was a jillaroo, then back to nursing, and she came to Wagga to work at the local blood bank, where she worked for the best part of 10 years.

Then there was a short stint driving buses in town, before she got the job with Australia Post in 2020.

She's drawn to those essential, unseen jobs that make up a community. She likes the feeling that she's working towards something bigger than herself, contributing to society, she said.

She enjoys thinking about the promise that each delivery holds.

"I always consider the package exciting, it might be something they've ordered, something they're waiting for," she said.

"I like to think, it is a postal service, so you'd still like to know that we're offering good service."

The main street has been her route since September last year, when she took over from her colleague, Eugene.

It was her natural effervescence that won her the prized beat she thinks, and it was Eugene who recommended her for the role he held for 16 years.

And it's one she hopes to hold on to for a few years more.

"I certainly think I can see myself doing this for quite some time," she said.

"I do love being outside, and I love the contact with the people."

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