Update –
Stakeholder engagement refresh update
We are well underway with our work program to refresh the ways in which we interact with our stakeholders. We would like to again take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been involved in helping us gather feedback so far. We have undertaken interviews with a range of stakeholders since our last update in June, and are now working through the feedback from stakeholders on what has or hasn’t worked for them, and what they might like to see moving forwards.
If you would like more information please contact our Industry Engagement team.
Be notified of banknote test deck updates
The Bank keeps a deck of counterfeit and other test banknotes that can be made available to banknote equipment manufacturers to run through their machines. Requests for access to this test deck can be made to the Industry Engagement team.
Additionally, if you are a banknote equipment manufacturer and would like us to let you know when we update this banknote test deck, you can request to be added to our updates notification email list.
In order to be added to this list, or to have access to the test deck, you must have a current Banknote Materials Agreement (BMA) signed with the Bank. To check if you have a current BMA, or to request further information or to be added to the update list, please contact the Industry Engagement team.
Check for a counterfeit - new interactive tool
We have recently launched a new interactive tool on the Banknotes website that can be used to check for a counterfeit in both series of banknotes in circulation.
The interactive feature allows users to choose which note they want to check the security features for, and then steps through each of the security features on the banknote. At each step the user can click on the security feature to see a close up of the security feature in action.
To see the new interactive tool to check for a counterfeit in action please click here.

Features for the vision impaired
When designing the new Next Generation Banknote series, the Bank looked at what features would be most beneficial to the vision impaired community to assist with quick identification of banknotes. The previous series included features such as; different lengths, strong colour contrasts and large bold numerals – all of which were retained for the NGB series. In addition to these features, we worked on developing a new tactile feature in consultation with a number of vision impaired representative groups.
The NGB series was the first set of Australian banknotes that included the new tactile feature that was developed in conjunction with the vision impaired community – the embossed dots. The issuance of the NGB series ran from 2016 with the release of the new $5, through to the end of 2020, with the release of the new $100, the final banknote in the NGB series.
Many other Central Banks around the world also assist their vision impaired communities with the inclusion of tactile features. The most common tactile feature used on overseas banknotes is a raised-print intaglio feature. Australia was one of the first countries to include an embossed feature on a polymer banknote. Since then, we have seen other countries issue new banknotes into circulation that also include an embossed feature to assist with identification by the vision impaired.
Our Research and Development team continually monitor the performance and durability of the embossed feature, and we look forward to ongoing collaboration with the vision impaired community.