Australia Term Deposit Rates 2026: Every Major Bank Compared

September 1, 2026 4 Min Read

Comparing Australian term deposit rates one bank at a time is slow, and headline rates on comparison sites are often months out of date. This guide puts every major bank’s current best advertised rate side by side, based on each bank’s own published rate sheet, plus the specific conditions — minimum deposits, notice periods, tiered rates — that decide whether you’ll actually earn that headline number.

Rates below are accurate as of August 2026 and change frequently. Each bank name links to a full breakdown with the complete term-by-term table for that bank.

Term Deposit Rates Compared: Every Major Bank

Bank	Best Advertised Rate	Term	Min. Deposit	Watch For
ANZ	5.30% p.a.	12 months	$5,000	31 days’ notice + $30 fee to break early
Bendigo Bank	5.00% p.a.	12 months	$5,000	Comparison sites often show a stale sub-$5k tier
BOQ	5.25% p.a.	12 months	$5,000	2–3 year rates drop to just 2.00% p.a.
ING (Term Deposit)	5.30% p.a.	12 months	Varies	12-month rate beats the 24-month rate (4.70%)
ING Savings Maximiser	5.50% p.a.*	Ongoing, variable	Up to $100,000	*Conditional bonus rate — falls to 0.01% base if you miss a condition
Judo Bank	5.50% p.a.	4–5 years	Varies	0.05% loyalty bonus for rolling over at maturity
Macquarie Bank	5.15% p.a.	12 months	$25,000 (Digital) / $5,000 (Standard)	Two separate products with two different tables
ME Bank	5.35% p.a.	12 months	$5,000	Now part of the Bank of Queensland Group
St George	4.75% p.a.	12 months	$1,000	+0.10% bonus for opening/renewing online
BCU	5.25% p.a.	4–5 months	$1,000	Part of the P&N Group
Bankwest	5.75% p.a.*	Savings account, not a term deposit	—	*Introductory rate for 4 months only, then drops sharply
Great Southern Bank	5.35% p.a.	7–12 months (55+ Platinum Plus)	$5,000	Standard rate (under-55) tops out at 5.25%
Greater Bank	5.25% p.a.	12 months	$5,000	Deposits under $5,000 earn just 0.01% p.a.
IMB Bank	5.25% p.a.	12 months	Varies	Some comparison sites still show a stale 4.55%
MyState	5.15% p.a.	12 & 24 months	$5,000	7-month rate fell to just 3.85%
Newcastle Permanent	5.25% p.a.	~12 months	$1,000	31 days’ notice required from 23 Feb 2026
P&N Bank	5.25% p.a.	5 months	$5,000	Rate doesn’t climb smoothly with term length
Rabobank	5.10% p.a.	5 years	$500,000–$2,000,000	Smaller deposits earn meaningfully less
Adelaide Bank	—	—	—	Same legal entity as Bendigo Bank — see its rates instead

Rates shown are each bank’s highest advertised annual percentage rate at the time each page was last checked, not necessarily available on every term or to every depositor. Always confirm the exact term and conditions on the linked page before opening an account.

Patterns Worth Knowing Before You Compare

Researching all of these banks side by side turned up the same handful of traps repeating across almost every provider:

Longer terms don’t reliably pay more. ANZ, Bendigo, BOQ, ING, and Judo Bank all show a mid-range term paying more than a longer one. Never assume the 24-month or 5-year rate beats the 12-month rate — check the actual table.
Small deposits get a different rate entirely. Greater Bank pays just 0.01% p.a. under $5,000. Rabobank’s headline 5.10% only applies above $500,000. Read the tier your actual balance falls into, not the headline figure.
31 days’ notice is becoming standard. Several banks — Newcastle Permanent and Greater Bank among them — added a 31-day notice requirement for early withdrawals on deposits opened or renewed from 23 February 2026 onward. If your deposit predates that, different rules may apply.
Comparison sites go stale. IMB, Bendigo, and MyState all had at least one major comparison site showing a rate that was months out of date. Bank rate pages change often; third-party listings don’t always keep up.
“Term deposit” and “savings account” get mixed together in search results. Bankwest’s Easy Saver/Hero Saver and the ING Savings Maximiser are variable-rate savings accounts, not fixed term deposits — the number can change monthly, unlike a locked-in term deposit rate.

FAQ

Which Australian bank currently has the highest term deposit rate?
Among the banks compared here, Judo Bank and the ING Savings Maximiser both advertise up to 5.50% p.a., though the ING figure is a conditional variable-rate savings account rather than a locked-in term deposit. Among true fixed term deposits with a realistic minimum deposit, ME Bank (5.35% p.a.) and Great Southern Bank’s Platinum Plus (5.35% p.a., 55+) lead the list.

Is a higher rate always better?
Not once you factor in the minimum deposit, notice period, and early-withdrawal penalty. A 5.30% rate you can access penalty-free beats a 5.50% rate locked behind a $500,000 minimum or a 31-day notice period, depending on your situation.

Why do rates in this table differ from other comparison sites?
Each figure here was checked directly against the bank’s own current rate sheet rather than copied from a third-party aggregator, several of which were found to be showing rates that were months out of date during this research.

Are these deposits government guaranteed?
Deposits with Australian authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) are covered by the Financial Claims Scheme up to $250,000 per account holder, per ADI. Confirm the institution is an ADI before depositing.