Big black spider? Call 000 for any bite
healthdirect treats a bite from any big black spider as a medical emergency. Call 000, lie the person down and keep them still. If you've only seen the spider, keep kids and pets away and don't try to catch it. Details are in our funnel-web guide.
Local notes for Bankstown
A funnel-web pocket
The Australian Museum says the Sydney funnel-web's range has shrunk in the south, and the few recent records south of the Parramatta River are limited to the Bankstown to Mortdale area. Males wander mostly over summer and autumn, and the Southern Sydney funnel-web can't easily be told apart by eye.
Homes for possums, on purpose
As at May 2023, Canterbury-Bankstown Council had installed more than 400 habitat boxes since 2003, and it aims to replace at least 30 a year. Hollow-dwelling animals rely on those, the council says, or on the humble roof cavity.
Picnic Point mosquitoes
NSW Health found Gan Gan virus in mosquitoes trapped at Picnic Point on 18 February, 12 March and 18 March 2025. It's a mosquito result, not a human case. Bankstown's trap numbers were low in the week ending 7 February 2026.
Georges River reserves
Council has controlled foxes in its reserves along the river since 2014. Tell council about fox sightings rather than a pest business.
Is a possum a pest?
Not in the legal sense. Council says pest animals are non-native or introduced species, and a possum may be a nuisance without being a pest. It also says brush-tailed possums, snakes, spiders and some birds are all well known to get inside houses.
In NSW, trapping a possum takes a licence, and it must be released at dusk within 150 metres. Our possums and the law guide has the steps. Indian mynas are another odd one: council says they're often considered pests but aren't listed under the TSC Act (the state's threatened species law).
The indoor jobs
German cockroaches and rats are the steady work in older brick flats and shops, because both follow shared walls, drains and rubbish rooms. If it's a block, involve the strata manager early, since the neighbours' units often matter as much as yours. Our cockroach page for Sydney explains why.
What we'd do about pests in Bankstown
Treat any large black spider as a funnel-web until someone tells you otherwise, and leave it be. For roaches and rodents, clean up first so the treatment has a chance of working, then tell us the suburb and what you've seen.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
