5 Dollars
Australia · Reserve Bank of Australia
The 2021-dated Australian $5 polymer banknote is a date variant of the Next Generation Banknote (NGB) series launched on 1 September 2016 — the fourth polymer $5 note issued by Australia since polymer currency was pioneered by the Reserve Bank of Australia in 1988. The note retains the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II drawn from the same source photograph used since 1992. It was the last generation of $5 notes to carry a royal portrait before the RBA announced in 2023 a new design celebrating First Nations peoples. The Prickly Moses wattle (Acacia verticillata subsp. ovoidea) and the Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris) were specially selected for the NGB series to represent Australia's flora and fauna.
Highlights
ReasonIssued as the 2021 date variant of the current Next Generation Banknote series, maintaining supply of the lowest-denomination Australian polymer note.
DesignObverse: Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, eucalyptus sprig, top-to-bottom clear window with Prickly Moses wattle and Eastern Spinebill. Reverse: New Parliament House, Possum and Wallaby Dreaming mosaic forecourt by Michael Nelson Jagamara, Parliament House schematic plan.
Security featuresTop-to-bottom clear polymer window; flapping Eastern Spinebill animation when tilted; colour-shifting Federation Pavilion '5'; shadow image of the Australian coat of arms; tactile embossed dots for the visually impaired; raised intaglio print on portraits and numerals; microprinting.
Sources