More guards, armed drills at Westfield in wake of Bondi stabbing

Australia’s biggest shopping centre chain is deploying more security guards and introduced vests for staff amid “heightened levels of security” across the country after the October 7 Hamas attack and Westfield Bondi Junction stabbing. Cheng Yixuan, 27, Pikria Darchia, 55, Dawn Singleton, 25, Jade Young, 47, Faraz Ahmed Tahir, 30, and Ashlee Good, 38, were killed during Joel Cauchi’s shocking two-minute frenzied attack at Westfield Bondi Junction on the afternoon of April 13. A coronial inquest into the attack will next year examine the tragic events and whether it could have been avoided after the 40-year-old pulled a hunting knife from his backpack and indiscriminately stabbed 16 people. Westfield is assisting the NSW coroner with the inquiry and a spokesperson said it would explore “potential learnings to improve security arrangements in places of mass gathering” as it grappled with a changing security landscape. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Scentre Group, which operates Westfield Australia, said the company took its duty of care to staff and customers seriously and “continuously aim to improve our security practices”. “This includes our capability, processes, and people to prepare for and respond to critical incidents. This is done in partnership with law enforcement, including police and government agencies,” the spokesperson said. “Following the horrific attack at Westfield Bondi, we further heightened our security presence across all our Westfield destinations. We have introduced additional personal protective equipment including vests for all security team members, which has enhanced the prominence and visibility of our security team.” Westfield’s security team is led by a former head of the London Metropolitan Police, or Scotland Yard, and the country’s counter-terrorism police and also includes former members of government security agencies. Westfield deployed more guards on shift following the October 7 attacks in Israel and subsequent protests, with a dedicated security team in place at each of the centres which regularly conduct safety and security drills. “Our security relies upon the engagement, collaboration, and co-operation of government law-enforcement agencies to provide safety to our customers, particularly in incidents that necessitate the use of physical force,” the spokesperson said. “We constantly assess risk … We also continue to examine, globally, potential enhancements, including the use of emerging technologies, to further enhance and improve our security and safety procedures. “Recent examples of armed offender drills at our Westfield destinations include with NSW Police, Queensland Police, the Australian Defence Force, South Australia Police and the Australian Federal Police.” While security teams at Westfield and shopping centres across the state are often the first to respond to armed offender incidents, they are not law enforcement and report alleged offenders to police. Over the past few months, NSW Police responded to multiple alleged offences at shopping centres, including a teen charged with stealing a knife and threatening staff at an Armidale shopping centre on November 6. In September, a man was charged after allegedly pulling out a hammer during a fight at a shopping centre on the NSW Central Coast; in July, a man was arrested after allegedly wielding a sword at a Parramatta shopping centre. More than 1150 knife-related incidents were reported in public places across NSW, including retail premises and outdoor spaces, between July 2023 and June 2024, according to data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. That figure includes 577 knife-related non-domestic violence-related assaults and 581 robberies – which includes knives, scissors, swords, and screwdrivers – with police reporting a further 140 firearm-related incidents during the same time period. The data reveals a gradual decline in knife and firearm-related incidents in public spaces over the decade. Between July 2014 and June 2015, NSW Police reported a staggering 1511 knife-related robberies and non-DV assaults in public spaces and 389 firearm-related incidents. Between July 2018 and June 2019, those figures were 1352 and 235 respectively. In the year until June 2024, the worst-affected spaces for knife-related incidents were “all other premise type” with 582, according to the BOSCAR data. Outdoor and public spaces reported 426 and retail spaces reported 150. NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley has been contacted for comment but did not respond before publication. A preliminary hearing into the horrific Westfield Bondi Junction incident was told last week that Cauchi had stopped taking antipsychotic medication just less than five years before the attack, having been diagnosed with schizophrenia in his teenage years. Cauchi previously lived in Toowoomba in South East Queensland where he was being managed in the public health system up until 2012; then, until 2020, he was being seen by a private psychiatrist while still in Queensland. The hearing was told Cauchi was medicated from late-2011, but his medication was gradually reduced over time until it was stopped entirely in 2019. From 2020 until the Westfield Bondi Junction attack, “there was no particular treatment”. A ”be on the lookout” flag was entered into the Queensland Police system in 2023 after Cauchi twice complained that his knives had been taken away by his father, who told officers his son was a schizophrenic who was no longer medicated. In the time leading up to the attack, Cauchi was homeless in Sydney, including living under the Maroubra Beach pavilion, with the inquest to examine his exact movements on the day of his rampage, including access to a Waterloo storage locker. The incident made a hero out of NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott, who ran towards Cauchi before ordering him to lay down the knife. When he failed to do so and advanced towards her, Inspector Scott shot Cauchi in the chest. In the wake of the attack, Inspector Scott was awarded the Commissioner’s Valour Award by NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb and was named in November as a nominee for Australian of the Year NSW in 2025. The forthcoming inquest also provides the families of victims and survivors an opportunity to share their trauma at an incident that shattered the lives of many and sent shockwaves through a country not used to mass killings. Before she died, Ms Good fought off Cauchi as he began to attack her nine-month-old daughter who was sitting in her pram. Miraculously, the infant was stabbed but survived the horrific attack. Another victim, Mr Tahir, was a security guard. His brother, Sheraz Tahir, told media outside the Lidcombe Coroners Court last week that his brother was a “brave man” who was “on duty at the time and he was just trying to stop the attacker and gave his life.” He added he “just wanted to know what happened that day” and hoped the inquest would lead to change, including “better protections for security guards”. The inquest will examine Cauchi’s contact with police in Queensland and NSW and whether there could have been early intervention. The court was told an alarm was not sounded inside the centre until a minute after Cauchi had been shot. The matter will return to court for a five-week hearing in April.