Westfield owner Scentre Group beefs up security after Bondi Junction attack

Scentre Group has increased its security and is working with local police across its 42 Westfield shopping malls following the attack at its Bondi Junction centre on April 13.

Company chief executive Elliott Rusanow said a new set of security measures were being rolled out across all its centres in Australia and New Zealand, through an increased visible presence of security staff wearing high-visibility vests.

“Our decision to increase security across the portfolio and provide financial support to our business partners following the tragedy at Westfield Bondi [Junction] will result in an increase in operating expenses in 2024,” Rusanow said at the group’s quarterly update.

“We are pleased that the NSW Premier [Chris] Minns has announced a review into a whole raft of things,” he said, adding that Scentre would be active participants in the review, and “we welcome that conversation, with the view of how do we avoid these acts of violence unprovoked on innocent people ever happening again”.

On April 13, a busy Saturday afternoon, six people were fatally stabbed at the Bondi Junction shopping centre by 40-year-old Joel Cauchi. The centre was closed until April 19.

Scentre is also in direct contact with a tenant at its Hornsby Westfield mall, in outer Sydney, on the sale of knives. Rusanow confirmed the group is talking to them about how they sell the items and what they sell, and “we will continue to do so”.

‘We are grateful for the support of our customers with visitation in the last week to Westfield Bondi at similar levels to the same time in 2023.’

Scentre CEO Elliott Rusanow

“This is actually probably part of a broader conversation for NSW and the country, which is what is the correct settings for what can be sold, how it can be sold and who it can be sold to,” he said.

Speaking at the quarterly update for the ASX-listed Scentre, which has a market value of $16.7 billion, Rusanow said shopping visitor numbers in the first 18 weeks to May 5, which included the closure of the Bondi Junction mall, were 175 million, or 2.8 million more than the same period in 2023.