Reserve Bank of Australia had revealed the design of the innovative $20 banknote in February this year. The note will be available in general circulation from 9th October 2019.

FREMONT, CA: The new $20 Australian note was released on 9th October. The release and a simultaneous video depicting the RBA Governor Philip Lowe using these notes to purchase a bag of bananas are being circulated across the continent.

The next-gen $20 banknote’s design has been revealed to the public in February, 2019. The new $20 contains portraits of Reverend John Flynn and Mary Reibey, which are existing features of the current $20 banknotes in the continent. Besides these common features, the new design has been carried out by incorporating a range of innovative features.

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The images on the note depicting the two outstanding Australians convey stories that are told through images included in the notes. The images featured on the note are designed in such a way that a highly diverse and rich narrative on their life in Australia is conveyed. These images are drawn through the same source photographs presented on the first-ever polymer $20 banknote.

The only available portrait of Mary Reibey is a miniature watercolor one on ivory circa 1835. Mary Reibey earned popularity as one of the early convicted women in the New South Wales colony. A horse theft offender, she went on to become a highly successful businesswoman. Her name has been associated with her business dealings, land grants, and mercantile and importing business. She had earned fame as one of the most popular philanthropic activists as well.

To illustrate her story, the new $20 banknote contains an image of a Sydney Cove based port Jackson schooner in the early 1800s. This bears similarity to the ones owned by Mary Reibey. Besides, this is a conventional Eora nowie (a canoe). This shows a connection to the period of Reibey’s life. Aboriginal women used to do fishing from these vessels. This was common on the harbors in her time.

Reverend John Flynn continues to be a part of the new $20 banknotes in Australia. Flynn is known as the pioneer with respect to the first-ever aerial medical services. In today’s world, this is popular as the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The new banknote contains a range of design elements, including an RFDS De Havilland aircraft image. The image is depicted in such a way that the aircraft is shown as leaving the remote Broken Hill homestead way back in 1948. Also, a pedal-powered transceiver is shown, which was used by the services to enhance communication in remote places. RFDS was started in 1928 and today, is the biggest and most comprehensive aeromedical emergency healthcare services across the globe.

According to the Reserve Bank governor, the most critical features of the $20 banknotes are ease of recognition and enhanced security. The innovative security features were present in $5, $10, and $50 banknotes as well with an aim to avoid the possibility of counterfeiting.

Examples of such features are the top-to-bottom clear window, which contains highly dynamic elements such as a flying kookaburra, which is portrayed as moving its wings and changing color. There is a reversing number 20. Another feature is a patch having a rolling-color effect, besides microprint featuring excerpts from the book ‘The Bushman’s Companion’ by Flynn.

The RBA has also been working closely with retailers and manufacturers of banknote equipment to assist them with preparing banknote authenticating machines and ATMs to deal with the innovative $20 banknote. This will comprise of test notes distribution to enable owners and manufacturers of these machines to update equipment as per the requirements.

The new notes have been designed to ensure that even visually impaired or blind people would be able to see the difference between various denominations of notes. As far as the $20 banknotes are concerned, the three raised bumps on the note’s long edges will be the blind-friendly feature.

The RBA also informs that along with the new notes, the existing $20 banknotes can also be a legal tender. However, they are likely to be withdrawn in the immediate future.

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