Working in one business for 46 years is a feat that not many people can claim. Few marriages last that long.

Lismore's Glyn Harding, however, can make that claim. His career with Australia Post started in 1979, and physically ended yesterday at the Lismore Post Office on Conway Street at 5pm when Glyn walked out of the door for the last time.

As you would expect after 46 years, there is some long-service leave to use, so Glyn's official last day will be in 2026. But come Monday morning, Glyn won't have to get out of bed and start the familiar routine that gets him to work by 9am.

"I'm just going to take my long service and fade away," Glyn told the Lismore App. "I'm looking forward to it."

Glyn started working for Australia Post in 1978, but took time off to travel overseas; therefore, his official starting year is 1979.

Being a Lismore-born and bred boy, he had hoped to complete his training in Sydney and come back home. However, in those days, getting a transfer back to the country was difficult; people held onto their jobs in Australia Post for a long time.

Once Glyn completed his 6-month training course in Strathfield, he lived in Sydney for 13 years. Firstly, in Coogee, before he purchased a place in Stanmore for the last four years.

"And then, when I had kids, I decided to move back and bring the kids up in the country. A better environment for them."

"I commenced at the Lismore Post Office, in this building, as the manager in 1996, and I've been here ever since."

As you can imagine, a great deal has changed over the last 46 years, with technology being the driving force.

"We used to use telex machines when I started, so we had to learn to type at the rate of 50 words a minute to pass. We went from telex machines (telegrams) to fax machines, to now emails. So, technology has really driven the changes.

"Letters have declined, unfortunately. The day of people posting letters is almost gone. It's mainly emails these days.

"Parcels have increased, as online spending has increased. E-commerce has taken over. Australia Post is now a parcel business, not a retail business."

The noticeable difference due to technology is the decline in people physically coming into the post office.

"Older people still like to visit the Post Office as they like to have that face-to-face contact. They still like to pay their bills through us. But having said that, there are some who have embraced the technology and do everything online, through their smartphones. Some of them embrace it, while others struggle with it."

Glyn explained that some people still go into the post office to pay their rates or water bills from council, and people still do their banking through Australia Post.

"Bank@ Post is still very popular. We've got quite a few banks that use our organisation for their banking. We have three of the major banks using us as their agent, but only for deposits and withdrawals."

Technology has not just changed the way Australia Post operates, as people choose different methods to celebrate Christmas and other special moments, but internally, computers have made a big difference to how staff operate.

"Back when I started, everything had to be written down, so we used to use carbon paper, as everything had to be in triplicate. We had to write down all the telephone accounts and then send them off to Telecom (Telstra). Then, in about '91, we introduced technology into

Post Offices by installing computers on the counter. This enabled us to enter everything into the computers, through scanning the barcodes. 

"Technology has also changed the way we do our training. The training I went through in 1979 ceased to operate in the late 1980s. The training school closed down, and now it's a three-month on-the-job training, which includes online tutorials."

Like Australia Post, Glyn's life will change from Monday. More golf is on the agenda, and when his partner retires next year, overseas travel will be added to the list, and as they get older, they will travel around Australia.

The Australia Post shop on Conway Street won't be quite the same, but after 46 years, Glyn deserves some time for himself.