Country Mayors chair slams plans to cut bank jobs

Rick Firman OAM, chairman of the NSW Country Mayors Association, has slammed plans by the ANZ to cut 3500 full time jobs, fearing the decision will result in yet more bank closures or a further reduction in services in rural communities across Australia.

ANZ, one of the nation’s big four banks, closed its Wee Waa branch in 2021, followed by its Gunnedah and Moree branches in 2023.

“Every single time a bank closes its doors in a remote, rural or regional area, they have made the decision to shift the costs of doing business directly onto their customers,” Cr Firman said.

“In remote, rural and regional areas, a bank closure means that customers are forced to travel sometimes hundreds of kilometres to reach their nearest bank branch. Are those customers receiving any compensation for that cost? No, they are not. It’s not just the costs associated with travel but the time lost from their own businesses and personal lives.”

“How many inquiries into banking do we need for the government to say this is not acceptable? By the time we get any action from a federal government on this issue, it will be too late, banking in rural communities will be dead.

Cr Firman said Australian banks are some of the most profitable in the world”.

“When will greed for more and more returns finally give way to customer service and equitable access? The decisions banks are making to withdraw services from rural communities is insidious,” he said.

“We constantly see a pattern of behaviour that is deliberately designed to justify closures. First there is a lowering of staff, next the hours are cut, then there are fewer services followed by advice the data shows customers are choosing online banking over face-to-face. Finally, we are told that because of falling use, the bank branch will be closed. Well, no surprises there, the outcome has been deliberately engineered by the bank.”

The ANZ decision follows a decision by Bendigo Bank to forgo its regional identity when it announced closures of 28 bank agencies and some bank branches from October 2025. NAB this week announced the loss of over 400 jobs when it relocates positions in its technology and enterprise areas to India and Vietnam. While Bendigo has announced the axing of a further 145 jobs in technology which is likely to impact on 637 workers. Meanwhile the Bank of Queensland is axing 200 staff and offshoring half of its contact centre to India.

“The Financial Sector Union has estimated that since 2020, 931 bank branches have closed across Australia,” Cr Firman said.

“While some of these may have been in metropolitan areas, where there are alternatives close by and public transport to assist customers to access an alternative branch, in country areas it is a very different story. There is no public transport, businesses and residents will have to travel hundreds of kilometres to get to the closest branch and lose valuable time to do so.

“The constant refrain that Australia Post Banking can fill the gaping hole left by bank closures shows the banks’ alarming ignorance of both the capacity of Australia Post branches to be a bank and underplays the important role that a full-service bank plays in the economic growth of regional, rural and remote communities.”