ANZ admits staff security breach
(25th November 2003 – Australia) ANZ has accepted the Industrial Relations Commission’s judgement that the bank had inadequate security measures in place at the time of a robbery at its Brookvale branch in June 2002.
The commission found that ANZ had breached the NSW Occupational Health and Safety Act by not having floor-to-ceiling security screens in place to adequately protect staff. The robbery at the Brookvale branch was one of a series where criminals obtained access to secure areas by jumping over the top of security screens.
The first of these occurred in February and the bank acknowledged it was slow to improve security.
The bank said that since 2002 it had implemented a comprehensive security program for all of its NSW branches, which involved conducting security risk assessments and spending $8 million on security upgrades.
ANZ managing director of Personal Banking and Wealth Management, Elmer Funke Kupper, said although no staff were injured at the time of the robbery it was unacceptable that its security measures were inadequate.
"It is a constant battle to stay ahead of the criminals involved in robberies, some of whom operate in well organised gangs," he said.
"However, the program we now have in place will ensure we have a safer, more secure environment for staff."
The first of these occurred in February and the bank acknowledged it was slow to improve security.
The bank said that since 2002 it had implemented a comprehensive security program for all of its NSW branches, which involved conducting security risk assessments and spending $8 million on security upgrades.
ANZ managing director of Personal Banking and Wealth Management, Elmer Funke Kupper, said although no staff were injured at the time of the robbery it was unacceptable that its security measures were inadequate.
"It is a constant battle to stay ahead of the criminals involved in robberies, some of whom operate in well organised gangs," he said.
"However, the program we now have in place will ensure we have a safer, more secure environment for staff."
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