Queen Elizabeth II removed from the 5 dollars notes
By CAA | Thursday, 2 February 2023
On February 1, 2023, the Reseve Bank of Australia announced that King Charles III will not replace Queen Elizabeth II on the new $5 banknote.
The Reserve Bank has decided to update the $5 banknote to feature a new design that honours the culture and history of the First Australians.
The current $5 banknote, designed by Bruce Stewart, was issued in July 1992. The front of the note carries a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II with a branch of a gum tree. The back of the note depicts Parliament House, Canberra. The first Parliament House, opened in 1927, is in the foreground.
Taken together, both sides of the note reflect Australia's system of democracy, based on the constitutional monarchy and the Westminster parliamentary structure. The $5 banknote received a mixed public response. Some people considered it too dull while others were disappointed at the loss of Caroline Chisholm, the only woman apart from the Monarch to have appeared on an Australian currency note.
In April 1995, a more brightly coloured $5 banknote was issued to more clearly distinguish it from the $10 note.
This decision by the Reserve Bank Board follows consultation with the Australian Government, which supports this change.
The Bank will consult with First Australians in designing the $5 banknote. The new banknote will take a number of years to be designed and printed. In the meantime, the current $5 banknote will continue to be issued. It will be able to be used even after the new banknote is issued.
- Reserve Bank of Australia
On January 27, 1988, the Reserve Bank of Australia released for the first time the commemorative 10 dollars 1988 banknote with an Aboriginal design. It was developped by the Reserve Bank of Australia, The University of Australia and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation to enhance the security of australian currency and it was the first modern polymer banknote issued worldwide.
The back side symbolises the original discovery and settlement of Australia some 40,000 - 60,000 years earlier, and it includes the serial numbers and a design of an Aboriginal and a Morning Star Pole. It was the first banknote in the world to be printed on a non-fibrous polymer substrate. It incorporated a Diffractive Optically Variable Device (DOVD), which featured Captain Cook.
The British monarch remains Australia's head of state, although these days that role is largely symbolic. Like many former British colonies, Australia is debating to what extent it should retain its constitutional ties to Britain. Australians voted in a 1999 referendum proposed by a Labour government to maintain the British monarch as Australia's head of state.
The bank plans to consult with Indigenous groups in designing the $5 note and expects it to be years before it goes public.
The new monarch is still expected to feature on coins.
