AUD · Australia
Australia was the first country in the world to issue polymer banknotes, and every Australian note has been polymer since 1996. The current Next Generation Banknote series was released one denomination at a time between 2016 and 2020; the earlier polymer series remains legal tender and circulates alongside it. The checks below describe the current series, whose most distinctive feature is a clear window running the full height of the note.
Features published by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
The note is a single piece of polymer film with opaque ink printed over most of it, leaving clear areas as windows. It is difficult to tear, survives washing, and springs back rather than creasing.
How to check: Try to tear the edge gently, polymer resists starting a tear where paper gives way easily. Flex the note and watch it return flat.
A transparent window runs the full height of the note, an unusual and hard-to-imitate feature. It contains several separate security elements rather than being merely a clear patch.
How to check: Hold the note up and look through the window along its whole length. It must be a genuine unprinted part of the polymer, not a cut-out patched with film, check both faces for glue lines or a raised edge.
Within the top-to-bottom window a native bird changes shape and colour as the note is tilted, so that its wings appear to move. A different bird appears on each denomination.
How to check: Tilt the note back and forth and watch the wings shift position. Confirm the bird is the right one for the denomination, listed note by note below.
Also within the window, the denomination numeral flips direction as the note is tilted, appearing to reverse itself.
How to check: Tilt the note and watch the number turn around. A printed imitation will show a static numeral.
A patch of colour on the note appears to roll or move across the surface as the viewing angle changes.
How to check: Move the note slowly under a directional light and watch the colour travel rather than simply brighten.
Raised bumps near the edge of the note allow blind and partially sighted users to tell denominations apart. The number of bumps rises with the value.
How to check: Run a fingertip along the edge. There should be one bump on the $5, two on the $10, three on the $20, four on the $50 and five on the $100. These are present on the current series only, not on the earlier polymer notes.
Portraits and some lettering are printed in raised ink, and excerpts of text are reproduced in microprint elsewhere on the note.
How to check: Feel the portrait for a distinct ridged texture, then use a magnifier on the microprint; it should be sharp and readable rather than a smudge.
Under ultraviolet light the serial number and a patch showing the denomination fluoresce, while the rest of the note stays largely dull.
How to check: A counter check under a UV lamp. Only the intended elements should glow.
What changes from one note to the next, once you have run the general checks above.
The current $5 is pink and shows the Australian Parliament House on the back. The bird in the top-to-bottom window is the Eastern Spinebill.
There is one raised bump near each of the short edges. Tilt the note to check the reversing 5 in the window and the rolling colour effect.
The earlier polymer $5, and the commemorative Federation $5, remain legal tender and look different; they are not counterfeits.
The current $10 is blue and features the writers A. B. Banjo Paterson and Dame Mary Gilmore. The bird in the window is the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.
There are two raised bumps near each of the short edges. Check the reversing 10 in the window and the moving wings of the cockatoo when tilted.
Lines of verse by both writers appear in microprint on the note, which is a useful magnifier check.
The current $20 is red and features Mary Reibey and the Reverend John Flynn. The bird in the window is the Laughing Kookaburra.
There are three raised bumps near each of the short edges. Check the reversing 20 and the rolling colour patch when tilted.
The current $50 is yellow and features David Unaipon and Edith Cowan. The bird in the window is the Black Swan.
There are four raised bumps near each of the short edges. The $50 is the note most commonly dispensed by Australian ATMs and the one most often encountered, so it is worth running the window, bird and reversing-number checks together.
Check the reversing 50 in the window and confirm the wings of the swan move as the note tilts.
The current $100 is green and features Dame Nellie Melba and Sir John Monash. The bird in the window is the Masked Owl.
There are five raised bumps near each of the short edges. Check the reversing 100 in the window and the rolling colour effect.
The $100 is refused by some Australian retailers as a matter of policy. If you are carrying Australian dollars, ask for a mix weighted towards $20 and $50 notes.
Source: Reserve Bank of Australia, banknote security features
Every note is checked at the counter. Call or WhatsApp your nearest Mythri Forex branch.
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