One of Australia’s most culturally diverse shopping precincts, Bankstown Central is turning 50, a testament to the strength and adaptability of the centre amidst an ever-changing Australian retail landscape.

21 September 2016 marks 50 years since Lady Cutler, the wife of the then NSW Governor General, Sir Roden Cutler, officially opened Bankstown Square amidst great fanfare. At the time it was heralded as Australia’s largest shopping complex and placed Bankstown at the epicentre of Sydney’s South West region.

The complex was spread over 6.27 hectares and featured two departments stores, David Jones and Big W and 130 specialty shops along with parking for 2900 vehicles, and in a first at the time, music was piped throughout the centre.

In the mid-2000s it underwent a major, two-stage refurbishment and by July 2006, the extensions had added 26,000m2 of retail space to bring the total gross leasable area to 66,500m2.

The Centre was rebranded as Bankstown Central in 2013 and today comprises numerous government and community service providers among the 320+ specialty stores with an annual customer headcount exceeding 15.2 million.