The Australian central bank has stated that the next five-dollar note will not depict King Charles III.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has said that the redesign will honor “the culture and heritage” of Indigenous Australians.
The current design of the five-dollar note features a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
With the passing of the Queen last year, discussions concerning the future of the constitutional monarchy in Australia were brought back into the spotlight.
The Reserve Bank of Australia said in a statement that the decision to make the shift was made after discussions with the Australian government, which approved of the move.
“First Australians will be consulted by the Bank as it creates the new $5 notes. It will take quite some time to create and distribute the new currency. The existing $5 bill will remain in circulation for the time being. Even after the new banknote is out, this one will still be valid “that’s what it added.
According to the BBC, a representative from the RBA has stated that there are presently no plans to alter the appearance of any other denomination of Australian banknotes.
They also noted that no official date has been announced for the debut of the new five dollar bill design.
Politicians and community representatives of Aboriginal communities applauded the decision.
“This is a major success for the grassroots, First Nations people who have been struggling to decolonise this country,” said Lidia Thorpe, a Greens senator and a DjabWurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara lady.
Recent estimates place the First Australians’ time in the country at 65,000 years or more before the British colonisation of the continent.
When his mother passed away in September, the King ascended to the throne of Great Britain.
Besides being the head of state in Britain, his position as British monarch also makes him the head of state in Australia, New Zealand, and 12 other countries that are part of the Commonwealth. This is a largely symbolic position.
Each series of Australian banknotes has included the picture of the British monarch.
However, in September Australia stated that the new monarch’s image would not automatically replace the Queen’s on its five dollar notes, and that she might be replaced by Australian figures instead.
Indigenous Australian art and culture has long been featured on Australian money. The only Australian currency to feature the Queen is the A$5 bill.
Australians voted to maintain the monarchy in 1999.
Following efforts to recognise that its Indigenous people are the oldest civilization in the world, Australia officially revised its national song in 2021 to remove references to the country being “young and free.”
