Westpac branch closures in NSW, QLD, WA, SA and Victoria with job losses to come

One of Australia’s largest banks will close nearly two dozen branches across the country, depriving several cities of personal support for their finances.

Westpac will close an additional 23 locations in the coming weeks, bringing the number of closures to 95 within four months.

Coober Pedy, Kapunda and Tailem Bend in South Australia and Carnamah in Western Australia no longer have a Westpac branch in their city.

Other Westpac branches to be closed include Campbelltown, Hay and Moree in NSW; port Douglas in Queensland; Beaumaris, Endeavor Hills and Gisborne in Victoria and the Katherine branch in the Northern Territory.

Due to the closure of branches, 92 people also lose their jobs.

The national secretary of the Finance Sector Union (FSU), Julia Angrisano, said the federal government must intervene or regional communities would lose access to personal banking facilities.

“We need the federal government to step in and stop the banks from leaving regional Australia,” she said.

“Banks cannot be trusted by regional communities to do the right thing because when considering whether to close branches, they only consider their huge profits and senior executives’ bonuses.

“They don’t care about the bank staff and the communities affected by their decisions to close branches.”

Coober Pedy, Kapunda and Tailem Bend in South Australia and Carnamah in Western Australia (pictured) have now lost the last branch of their town

National Secretary of the Finance Sector Union (FSU), Julia Angrisano, said the federal government must intervene or regional communities will lose access to banking facilities

Ms Angrisano said Westpac’s decision was ‘the most appalling decimation of a branch network by a bank’.

Westpac staff affected by the closures told the union it was “emotionally draining” and that their future was “in the air”.

“This is emotionally exhausting because every conversation with a customer reminds us that we will lose our job. The impact on the mental health of everyone who works at the branch is enormous and takes its toll,” one writes.

“Every customer wants to talk about the branch closure and they are concerned about what this means for them and for the staff,” said another.

“We are remote, what our employment options look like is up in the air, we are all facing a very uncertain future,” said a third.

“The bank expects all of us to stay motivated and meet sales targets and participate in sales campaigns as if everything were normal,” wrote a fourth.

Ms Angrisano said the latest decision further demonstrates that Westpac does not care about its staff.

“Clearly, serving customers’ banking needs is being ignored as Westpac pursues cost savings by reducing their physical and staff costs,” Ms Angrisano said.

“Westpac’s employees have known for a long time that the bank doesn’t care about people, having suffered the most under pressure from executives to work unpaid overtime to complete unreasonable daily workloads.”

Westpac wants to combine its brands under one roof and create co-located stores with St George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA and other services

Westpac aims to combine its brands under one roof by creating co-located stores with St George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA and other services.

St George Bank will close branches in the ACT in Townsville and Cairns in Queensland, North Sydney in NSW and Weston.

Bank of Melbourne closes branches in Greensborough, Horsham, Prahran, Shepparton and Sunshine.

While Bank SA closes its branches in Greenacres, Kapunda, Port Adelaide and Tailem Bend.

A Westpac spokesperson previously told Daily Mail Australia that the bank would help employees affected by branch closures find new positions within the company.

“We have a robust process in place to help employees find new opportunities within Westpac Group, which means that the majority of the employees involved will find new roles and continue their careers within the Group,” the spokesperson said.