Why does Australia have plastic banknotes?
Australia has plastic, or polymer, banknotes because they are much harder to counterfeit and last longer than paper notes. In 1988, Australia became the first country to issue a polymer banknote.
The project began after a wave of counterfeit ten-dollar notes in the 1960s. The Reserve Bank of Australia worked with CSIRO and the University of Melbourne to develop a plastic note with security features that could not be easily copied.
The first polymer note was a commemorative ten-dollar note released for the Bicentenary in 1988. By 1996, Australia had replaced all its paper notes with polymer ones.
Security and durability
Polymer notes include clear windows, raised printing and holographic features. Since 2016, a new series has added a top-to-bottom clear window and features to help people with vision impairment.
They last several times longer than paper notes, can survive being washed in pockets and are recyclable at the end of their life, being turned into plastic products.
More than 20 countries, including New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom, now use polymer notes, many printed using Australian-developed technology. Australia's five-dollar note features Queen Elizabeth II, while the Reserve Bank has announced a new design honouring First Nations culture.
Did You Know?
Note Printing Australia, a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank, prints notes for Australia and other countries.