A senior security executive with in-depth knowledge of major mall owners’ operations in Australia, who declined to be identified to speak freely, said the Bondi Westfield site would be “trauma cleaned”, and its reopening might be staggered.

“They’ll probably go through a series of debriefs with their employees, their tenants, their security agencies and things like that to look for lessons learned,” the security executive said.

Mega malls, such as football stadiums or rock concert venues, are designated mass gathering places and operators have a responsibility to protect their customers, the expert said.

The expert said that staff and tenants at malls were trained to adhere to the “escape, hide, and tell” protocol when dealing with violent offenders or terrorists.

“They look as though they’ve adhered to that. They locked down the centre, they evacuated the centre.

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“In this case, it appears that it’s worked because you saw all the tenancies going into immediate lockdown and going into a storage area or somewhere out of sight.”

Supermarket tenants contacted by this masthead said they would assess perishable fresh products once they regained access to their stores, but refrigeration and air-conditioning hadn’t stopped.

Shopping Centre Council of Australia chief executive Angus Nardi said safety and security was a priority for the industry. “We take very seriously that shopping centres are public places,” Nardi said.

SafeWork NSW was also making inquiries following the tragedy and would liaise with NSW Police, a spokesperson said.

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