Queensland hit hardest as BOQ announces more branch closures

Bank of Queensland will close nine branches across WA, NSW, and Queensland between July and September, with four closures hitting its home state hardest.

Four Queensland branches of Bank of Queensland will close after the bank announced the latest wave of closures across the country. Picture: The Australian

The Bank of Queensland has announced another wave of branch closures that will result in nine more communities losing their local BOQ branches between July and September.

The latest closures affect branches in Western Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland, with four of the nine, to shut in BOQ’s home state.

The affected branches include Subiaco and Bunbury in Western Australia, Sydney Markets, Campbelltown, and Byron Bay in New South Wales, as well as Aspley, Edge Hill, Aitkenvale, and Surfers Paradise in Queensland.

The closures come just weeks after the Manly branch in New South Wales shut on May 30.

While BOQ has pledged to seek redeployment opportunities for the 30 staff members at the closing branches, concerns remain that some staff will be unable to remain with the bank, facing job losses or difficult relocations.

Finance Sector Union national secretary Julia Angrisano said the bank’s recent closures continued a disturbing trend that resulted in BOQ cutting hundreds of jobs and closing dozens of branches over the past two years.

Since 2023, BOQ’s CEO Patrick Allaway has aggressively pursued cost-cutting measures, including buying back franchised branches, a move the union warned would foreshadow further branch closures.

He also announced more than 600 staff reductions across 2023 and 2024.

“Customers are right to feel betrayed by these closures, and the Finance Sector Union stands with them,” Ms Angrisano said.

She also called for government regulation to protect communities from losing access to basic banking services, pointing out that the lack of minimum service standards allowed banks to cut branches and ATMs “on a whim with no regard to local needs or preferences”.

The latest closures will compound the impact on Queensland communities, which have already been hit by a previous wave of branch shutdowns this year.

In January, BOQ announced it would close 14 branches nationwide, including multiple locations in Queensland such as Logan Central, Caloundra, Carindale, Elanora, Sherwood, Springwood, and Toowong.

These closures led to a net loss of 18 jobs, further reducing the bank’s presence in Queensland suburbs and regional areas.

The Logan Central branch closure in particular attracted criticism, as it is located within Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ electorate.

Other closures affected branches in Victoria, New South Wales, and Western Australia, with some suburbs losing access to any physical bank branches entirely.

Originally published as Queensland hit hardest as BOQ announces more branch closures