Do you know your "mall" from your "shopping centre"?
A very important case of terminology when adapting text for the Australian market.
Traditionally in Australia:
- A large, indoor retail space with numerous shops and anchored by department stores is a "shopping centre"
- An open-air pedestrian promenade with shops along it is a "mall"
Every major city in Australia has a mall in its central business district (CBD): Pitt Street Mall in Sydney, Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne, Queen Street Mall in Brisbane, Rundle Mall in Adelaide (with its Malls Balls – look it up), Hay Street Mall in Perth... you get the picture.
Then in casual speech, Aussies sometimes refer to shopping centres generically by the largest and most identifiable chain in Australia – "Westfield".
For example, when an Aussie asks "Is there a Westfield nearby?", they're usually asking generally if a shopping centre is nearby, regardless if it belongs to the Westfield chain or not.

However, things are not set in stone, so you'll hear many Aussies, particularly younger people, calling shopping centres "shopping malls" or even just "malls".
That doesn't mean it's then OK to use "mall" for "shopping centre" in your marketing material for Australia. Many Aussies can be very vocal about any perceived Americanisms such as this "infecting" the local lingo, so here prevention is better than cure.
Best then do what the cat says.
Then it gets tricky with "outlet malls", which is how many Aussies call them – they tend not to be enclosed indoor spaces, so they fit the general Aussie description for a "mall", but in copy in Australia they're referred to as a "outlet shopping centre", "outlet centre" or just "outlet".
Need to make sure that you get your malls right from your shopping centres? Then I'm here to help you. Contact me at info@nicknasev.com and with copy and text nicely tailored for your Australian market, let's see your sales grow!