IN Western Australia, wannabe police officers can apply at Australia Post. Drivers' licenses can be renewed at post offices in South Australia and in Victoria, those needing a government card to work with children can use their postal service.
Australia Post has changed dramatically since Isaac Nichols became the nation's first postmaster in Sydney on April 25, 1809. And the change is likely to continue.
The art of letter writing is almost dead and the internet and mobile phones have changed how the world communicates.
As regional and suburban post offices close, and pundits bemoan the death of the postie, Australia Post has big plans.
It's ready to shake things up. But the changes may come at a cost as the organisation balances profit with community service.
A few years ago, Australia Post could bank on about $500 million in profit before tax. Today it's closer to $100 million.
In 2009/2010, the once bread-and-butter business letters received and sent lost $170 million. It's a significant sum, although paltry compared to the recent $8 billion loss by the United States Postal Service.
One of the reasons Australia Post is at a crossroads is because generations of Australians no longer identify with the iconic red symbol.
Cameron Thiele, divisional secretary of the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union communications division, knows this first hand.
"At Christmas, my 21-year-old niece asked me, 'What do they do at post offices?' I said, 'I'll show you'. She was amazed. It's a generational thing."
While Generation X, Y and some Baby Boomers embrace technology, downloading phone applications to log on to internet banking or track their parcels, there are some who still use post offices to buy a stamp and send a letter.
But 60c transactions are not enough to keep some post offices open. Several have closed in recent years.
Thiele says the community has to use it or lose it, but also that any losses will be tough for older generations who have an emotional attachment to their post office.
Politically, it has become fashionable to rally to save a post office, although ironic given many MPs know Australia Post has to operate at a profit.
Earlier this year, Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy asked Australia Post to rethink its plans to close Woollahra Post Office, in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
Federal Human Services Minister Tanya Plibersek last month rallied with hundreds of others to stop the closure of the Glebe Post Office in Sydney's southwest.
Locally, Federal MP Teresa Gambaro has done the same, and has been left disappointed over news damage caused by the Brisbane floods will permanently shut the Milton post office. Australia Post says it's unavoidable.
"The Milton post office sustained extensive damage ... with water damage to the ground floor of the building including electrical wiring and vehicles, equipment, furniture and stock," it said.
"Due to the extent of the damage, and concerns about the structural safety of the site, and with consideration to the potential risk of future flooding, the site has been permanently vacated.
"We are currently reviewing the postal needs of the community and a temporary mail collection point has been established for all Post Office Box holders at the Kelvin Grove Delivery Centre."
But Gambaro says Australia Post needs to understand how important a local outlet is to families and businesses. Two have closed in her electorate in the past six months.
"Australia Post offices and outlets play a vital role in our community," Gambaro says.
"This decision by Australia Post is shortsighted and will be a great inconvenience for local residents and businesses.
"The decision has been made without consultation or consideration of the impact to the local community.
"I know that these closures will also mean great personal inconvenience and aggravation for older residents who rely on these local services.
"Older residents who have previously walked to the local post office will now need to catch a taxi or wait for a bus at their own expense."
Australia Post has a community service obligation to keep 2500 outlets open in rural and regional Australia. Currently, there are about 2530.
The new chief executive officer of Australia Post Ahmed Fahour told a recent Federal Senate Inquiry, "we intend to continue to meet our community service obligation into the future".
It's understood that one of the reasons that Ashgrove post office closed was because it went from having 900 customers a day to 300 a day in a matter of years.
The facts that Australia Post does not receive taxpayer funding (in the past financial year, it provided a total dividend payment of $79 m to its shareholder, the Federal Government) and needs to stay in the black, makes for uneasy choices.
But many are touting Fahour as the man who will make the difference.
They say he will lead Australia Post's transition to a shopfront for dual commercial and government agencies without sacrificing its once core business.
Fahour spent 13 years at Boston Consulting Group before jumping to Citigroup in New York in 2000. In 2004, he become National Australia Bank's executive director and CEO.
After a stint as CEO at Gulf of Finance House in Bahrain, he took the helm of Australia Post last year.
The sheer reach of Australia Post throughout the country has allowed Fahour to think big and is forcing the organisation to take on the technology industry that threatened to kill it.
Australia Post general manager of communities, Alex Twomey, admits the organisation is ready to take on new challenges.
As well as considering a range of options such as becoming a one-stop shop for the services government departments provide, like birth certificates, or filing Medicare paperwork, it is ready to tap in to the growing online parcel network.
"Mums used to be home during the day but now that's rare," Twomey says.
He says people may be able to receive a text telling them their parcel had arrived at a delivery centre, and they should nominate their closest or chosen post office.
Thiele says he is excited by Fahour's vision, which is good news for his 20,000 members, but knows some communities may still lose their Australia Post outlet.
There are also questions about what role it will play in the National Broadband Network.
The answers may come in a few weeks when Fahour will front some of his critics in at Federal Budget estimates hearings.
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