What Westpac actually looks for

Westpac is headquartered in Sydney and is one of Australia's Big Four banks, tracing its roots to 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, making it one of the oldest banks in the world; it took the Westpac name in 1982. The bank's recent history is dominated by a serious 2019 scandal: Australia's financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, found Westpac had breached anti-money-laundering laws roughly 23 million times, including failures connected to detecting payments linked to child exploitation, resulting in a record penalty at the time of around 1.3 billion Australian dollars and the resignation of CEO Brian Hartzer. That episode remains one of the most serious corporate scandals in Australian banking history, and it has driven a lasting, heavy internal focus on compliance, monitoring systems, and risk culture that shows up across hiring for nearly every function today.

Common questions and how to answer them

Westpac went through a serious compliance scandal in 2019. How would you approach identifying and escalating a risk issue? Take this seriously and give a specific, real example; Westpac's interviewers weigh this heavily given the scale of the 2019 failures. Tell me about a time you had to follow a process carefully even when it slowed things down. Discipline around controls is now a central value at Westpac. Why Westpac over another Big Four bank? A strong answer might reference the bank's long history or its post-2019 focus on rebuilding trust through stronger governance.

How to prepare

Understand the 2019 AUSTRAC scandal in detail, the scale of the breaches, the record penalty, and Brian Hartzer's resignation, since it remains one of the most consequential events in the bank's modern history and shapes how seriously Westpac now treats compliance. Know that Westpac is one of the oldest banks in the world, dating to 1817, a detail the bank uses to convey stability and heritage. For any role touching risk, compliance, or operations, be ready to discuss control discipline as a genuine, non-negotiable priority rather than a checkbox.

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Frequently asked questions

What happened in the Westpac AUSTRAC scandal?
In 2019, AUSTRAC found Westpac had breached anti-money-laundering laws around 23 million times, including failures tied to detecting payments linked to child exploitation, resulting in a record penalty at the time and the resignation of CEO Brian Hartzer.
How old is Westpac as a bank?
Westpac traces its history back to 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, making it one of the oldest banks in the world; it adopted the Westpac name in 1982.
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