The first commercial bank in Western Australia was created eight years after the establishment of the Swan River Colony in 1829.
Entries in italics indicate a locally (W.A.) domiciled operation.
Early 1830s | The Colonial Secretary of Western Australia, Peter Broun, begins a makeshift banking service out of necessity, despite having no training in finance or accounting. It collapses in 1835. |
June 1837 | the Bank of Western Australia (BWA) is established by prominent local businessmen including George Leake as its first chairman |
1841 | the Bank of Western Australia is sold to the Bank of Australasia |
1841 | The Western Australia Bank (WAB) is established |
1845 | The original Bank of Western Australia closes |
1855 | Government savings bank opens |
1863 | Post Office Savings Bank opens |
1862 | Perth Building Society (PBS) opens [1] |
1866 | branch of National Bank opens |
1878 | branch of Union Bank of Australia opens |
1883 | branch of Bank of New South Wales opens |
1888 | branch of Commercial Bank of Australia opens |
1895 | Government of Western Australia establishes the Agricultural Bank of Western Australia |
1927 | Western Australian Bank acquired by Bank of NSW |
1945 | Agricultural Bank renamed to the Rural and Industries Bank of Western Australia (R&I) |
1975?? | Western Australian Building Society (WABS) agrees to merger with the Town and Country Building Society on the 27th of April 1983 |
1987 | Perth Building Society merges with Hotham Building Society to form Challenge Bank [2] |
1990 | Town and Country Building Society, WA acquired by ANZ [2] |
1994 | R&I renamed to Bank of Western Australia Limited, trading as BankWest |
1995 | Challenge Bank acquired by Westpac (formerly Bank of NSW) |
1995 | Bank of Scotland acquired BankWest, and as part of the sale agreement, offered 49 per cent of the shares in BankWest to the public. BankWest shares listed on the Australian Stock Exchange on 1 February 1996. |
2001 | Halifax Group (a large UK financial institution) merged with Bank of Scotland to form HBOS plc. HBOS then acquired all the outstanding shares of BankWest, making it HBOS's wholly owned subsidiary. Bankwest continues to trade as BankWest for retail and business banking services. |
2008 | Commonwealth Bank acquires Bankwest from HBOS for $2.1bn, fallout from the financial crisis of 2007–2008 |
Washington Mutual, Inc. was an American savings bank holding company based in Seattle. It was the parent company of WaMu Bank, which was the largest savings and loan association in the United States until its collapse in 2008.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services, including retail, business and institutional banking, funds management, superannuation, insurance, investment, and broking services. The Commonwealth Bank is the largest Australian listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange as of August 2015, with brands including Bankwest, Colonial First State Investments, ASB Bank, Commonwealth Securities (CommSec) and Commonwealth Insurance (CommInsure). Its former constituent parts were the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia, and the Commonwealth Development Bank.
Bankwest is an Australian bank based in Perth, Western Australia. It was founded as the Agricultural Bank of Western Australia in 1895 by the Government of Western Australia being renamed the Rural and Industries Bank in 1944, and Bankwest in 1994 before being privatised. After a period of being a listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange, it was taken over by the Bank of Scotland, and since 2008 has been a subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank.
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) is a multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is Australia's second-largest bank by assets and fourth-largest bank by market capitalisation.
Banking in Australia is dominated by four major banks: Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank. There are several smaller banks with a presence throughout the country which includes Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Suncorp Bank, and a large number of other financial institutions, such as credit unions, building societies and mutual banks, which provide limited banking-type services and are described as authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs). Many large foreign banks have a presence, but few have a retail banking presence. The central bank is the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The Australian government’s Financial Claims Scheme guarantees deposits up to $250,000 per account-holder per ADI in the event of the ADI failing.
The 1893 banking crisis in the Australian colonies involved the collapse of a considerable number of commercial banks and building societies, and a general economic depression. It occurred at the same time as the US Panic of 1893 (1893–1897).
The 1951 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 28 April 1951. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, due to a double dissolution called after the Senate rejected the Commonwealth Bank Bill. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies defeated the opposition Labor Party led by Ben Chifley with a modestly reduced majority, and secured a majority in the Senate. This was the last time the Labor party ever held a Senate majority. Chifley died just over a month after the election. This was the sixth and last federal election prior to the death of George VI a year later.
The Western Argus was a newspaper published in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, between 1894 and 1938.
The Palace Hotel in Perth, Western Australia, is a landmark three-storey heritage listed building located in the city's central business district. Originally built in 1897 as a hotel during the gold rush period of Western Australia's history, it was converted to banking chambers and offices in the 1980s and now accommodates the Perth headquarters of Woods Bagot, Adapptor and Hatchd. The building is located on the most prominent intersection in the financial district of the city, at the corner of St Georges Terrace and William Street.
Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney.
Citibank Australia was the division of Citigroup that operated in Australia. In June 2022, the division was sold to National Australia Bank.
Perth Building Society was Western Australia’s first building society. It operated from 1862 to 1987, when it amalgamated with the Hotham Permanent Building Society to form Challenge Bank.
The General Post Office is a heritage landmark building in Perth, Western Australia. Located on the western side of Forrest Place in the city's central business district, its imposing stone facade is in the Beaux-Arts style. The building was completed in 1923 after almost a decade of construction, which was protracted by World War I and the resulting shortages of construction materials. At the time of its opening, it was the largest building in Perth.
Terry Budge is an Australian banking executive and held the position of Chancellor at Murdoch University from 2006 to 2013.
The State Theatre Centre of Western Australia is a theatre complex located within the Perth Cultural Centre in Perth, Western Australia. The larger of three dedicated performance areas is known as the Heath Ledger Theatre in honour of Perth-born film actor Heath Ledger.
P&N Bank is a division of Police & Nurses Limited and is an Australian customer-owned bank based in Western Australia. Operating under a mutual model, P&N Bank provides retail banking services such as home loans, savings accounts, and insurance services. The bank has a network of branches throughout greater Perth and Bunbury and has a Perth based Contact centre which is open 6 days a week.
The 2016 Football West season was the third season under the new competition format in Western Australia. The overall premier for the new structure – Perth – qualified for the National Premier Leagues finals series, competing with the other Federation champions in a final knockout tournament to decide the National Premier Leagues Champion for 2016.
The Western Australian Bank building in York is the third oldest surviving bank building in Western Australia and, until 27 September 2019, was the oldest still in-use as a bank.
343 George Street, Sydney is a heritage-listed former bank building and now nine-storey retail and commercial premises. It is located at 343 George Street in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1921 to 1925, and until 2008 housed banking premises of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney (CBC) and later National Australia Bank. The building is also known as CBC Bank, NAB Bank and Barrack House. The property is now owned by the New South Wales Government-owned superannuation fund. The ground floor is leased as retail premises, while the upper storeys are used as commercial office space.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Western Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Western Australia (WA) confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on 21 February 2020, and its first death on 1 March. On 15 March, premier Mark McGowan declared a state of emergency. On 24 March, Western Australia closed its borders to the rest of Australia, and on 1 April, the state implemented borders between regions in the state. By mid-April 2020, the state had eliminated community transmission of COVID-19, becoming one of the few places in the world to do so. There were only a handful of cases of community transmission in the state after mid-April, until late December 2021 when a tourist caused an outbreak that led to the cancelling of some New Year's Eve events, and the re-imposing of mask wearing rules in Perth and the Peel region.