Neither King Charles nor any member of the British royal family will feature on the new design of Australia’s $5 note.
The next version of the note, which had featured the late Queen Elizabeth II since 1992, will instead feature a theme honouring Indigenous Australians.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said ‘The imagery on the $5 banknote should recognise the enduring connection that First Nations peoples have to Country – as an emotional and spiritual connection, as much as a physical one’.
The theme was chosen from more than 2,100 public submissions, but the final artwork has not been confirmed and the RBA said it wanted to ‘avoid being tokenistic or stereotypical’ when considering submissions.
The RBA said it wanted to recognise ‘First Nations communities’ contribution to the restoration and conservation of our environment’.
‘Using traditional… knowledge First Nations peoples continue to act as custodians to sustain and conserve Country. There is an opportunity for all Australians to learn from Australia’s original stewards on how to nurture and protect our fragile world.’
When the choice to remove the reigning British monarch was first mooted in 2023, Opposition leader Peter Dutton called it ‘another attack on our systems, on our society and on our institutions’.
When the new theme was announced on Monday, there was swift and brutal backlash online, with one man writing on X: ‘I’m disgusted, enough of the woke… c*** that divides our nation.’
Neither King Charles nor any member of the British royal family will feature on the new design of Australia’s $5 note (pictured)
The next version of the note, which has featured the late Queen Elizabeth II (pictured) since 1992, will instead feature a theme honouring Indigenous Australians
The reverse side of the note will show Parliament House in Canberra, as it already does.
Queen Elizabeth had appeared on Australia’s lowest banknote between 1966 and 1984, when it was the $1 note, and from 1992 to this year on the $5 note.
The new chosen theme will act as a guide to artists as they vie to create a new design for the next $5 Australian banknote.
‘The tone for the banknote is of a hopeful future, where First Nation peoples’ connection to Country is celebrated and respected,’ the RBA said.
The other side of the note will show Parliament House in Canberra (pictured), as it currently does
The RBA announced in 2023 the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on one side of the note would be replaced.
It said the new design should ‘honour the culture and history of the First Australians’ following the monarch’s death in 2022.
The new note is expected to take several years to be designed and printed before it enters circulation.
The use of notes and coins has fallen sharply in recent years, particularly since the pandemic, as more people use the tap-and-go feature of their bank cards.
