Key Points
- The Reserve Bank is seeking public input on a new design for the $5 note that celebrates First Nations culture.
- Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock announced the plan while fronting a parliamentary committee.
- Bullock acknowledged there is still work to do when it comes to getting inflation under control during her address.
Australians will be able to have their say on the redesign of the $5 note, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has confirmed.
Speaking in Canberra on Friday, RBA Governor Michele Bullock delivered her opening statement to a parliamentary committee, touching on subjects like inflation, payment systems and banknote distribution.
Before concluding her statement, Bullock said work to redesign the $5 note was underway in a way that "honours and celebrates the culture and history of First Nations peoples."
Bullock said the RBA will be asking members of the public throughout March and April for their input on what should be featured on the new note that will be representative of First Nations culture and history in Australia.
"We have also begun visiting First Nations community organisations in key regional and remote locations across Australia and the Torres Strait, to engage with local communities about the theme nomination process," Bullock said.
The RBA first announced its intention to update the $5 note in Februrary last year.
'Some way to go' before inflation target met
Bullock also said that a new Statement on the Conduct of Monetary Policy – which is an agreement between the government and the central bank that guides monetary and central banking policy – made it clear that the RBA should aim to have inflation at 2.5 per cent.
"We still have some way to go before we meet our targets," she said.
At the board's first monetary policy meeting of the year, the cash interest rate was left unchanged at 4.35 per cent, as was widely expected in the wake of signs inflation was easing.
The consumer price index fell to 4.1 per cent in the 12 months to December — its lowest level in two years — from 5.4 per cent in the year to September.
Yet the job of getting inflation under control was not complete, Bullock reaffirmed.
"One thing that has not changed since our previous hearing in 2023 is the challenge presented by high inflation," she said.
"We all remain acutely aware that the cost of living is rising much faster than it has over recent decades."
— With additional reporting by AAP
