RBA commission new designs for Australian bank notes

IT IS a sight guaranteed to elicit a pang of homesickness in any globetrotting Australia. The colourful array of the banknotes of our Australian currency have become a source of pride both home and abroad, even earning themselves personalised slang-terms. Mention a “lobster” and everyone knows you’re paying with a $20. Pull out a “pink lady” and you’ve only got $5 to spare. Drinks are on you though if you’re waving a “pineapple” ($50).

Now the Reserve Bank of Australia looks set to scrap the current design of these notes (though not the colours) and replace them with a new range. The Next Generation Banknote Program was established in 2007 to work on the design of these notes and has been working hard to commission a number of options for new concepts. The RBA report the project has so far cost around $9.3 million.

According to the RBA, the banknotes need to be updated to incorporate a number of new security features in order to reflect new anti-counterfeit technologies and developments in banknote design, Key design elements of the current banknote series, such as colour, size and portraits, will remain, but as this picture of the proposed $20 note shows, there are some important visual differences.

During the process the RBA sought quotes from, and then engaged, “three eminent banknote designers”. The concept designs submitted by these designers, one of whom had been involved in the development of the current banknote series, were then evaluated and the field narrowed down to the preferred designer.

The RBA note that it is still several years before the first of the upgraded banknotes, and have sought to reassure the public that in the meantime there will be extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders “to ensure that Australia’s banknotes continue to meet community needs”.

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