Key Highlights

  • The $5 banknote redesign has moved to the theme Connection to Country.
  • The theme was selected by an Imagery Selection Panel.
  • The RBA recorded more than 2,100 public submissions during consultation.
  • The artwork, the artist and the release date are still to come.

Among everything the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has on its plate this month, from a fifth rate rise in 2026 to new card payment rules, one project moves at a very different pace. The redesign of the $5 banknote is not driven by monthly data or quarterly forecasts. It is a long process that began with a call for public ideas and has now reached the point where a theme has been chosen.

That theme is "Connection to Country". It was selected by an Imagery Selection Panel, which described it as reflecting "the enduring connection that First Nations peoples have to Country." The RBA's banknote pages says the theme "will guide the creation of an artwork."

This explainer traces how the project got here and what remains to be done.

From the 2024 consultation to the panel's choice

The project's public phase dates back to early 2024. According to the RBA's media release from that year, a consultation ran from 1 March to 30 April 2024. It set out several key parameters for the new note:

  • The new design will replace the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
  • The other side of the note will keep the Australian Parliament.
  • A group of First Nations artists will be invited to submit a design.

Those parameters defined the scope of the exercise. The question was not whether the $5 note would change, but what imagery would take the place of the portrait on one side, while the Parliament side stays.

Public interest was substantial. The RBA's banknote pages records more than 2,100 public submissions.

Public submissions were not the end point. An Imagery Selection Panel chose the theme, which is how the process moved from a broad range of public ideas to a single direction.

The panel's description is worth quoting in full: the theme reflects "the enduring connection that First Nations peoples have to Country." The words matter, because they will frame the brief for whoever creates the artwork.

It is also worth being clear about what has not been announced. Based on the RBA material available:

  • The artist has not been named.
  • No release date for the new note has been given.

Any suggestion of when the note will enter circulation, or whose artwork it will carry, would go beyond what the RBA has published.

What happens next

The RBA's banknote pages sets out the next steps in two stages:

  1. Create the artwork. The chosen theme "will guide the creation of an artwork."
  2. Translate the artwork into a banknote design.

Those two stages are distinct. An artwork is a creative work in its own right. A banknote design must take that work and adapt it to a note that is also carrying the Australian Parliament on its other side. The RBA's material does not describe the technical or security requirements involved in that translation, so it is not possible to say how long each stage will take.

The 2024 media release's reference to inviting a group of First Nations artists to submit a design connects to this phase. The theme selection gives those artists, and the eventual chosen artist, a defined starting point.

Why the slow pace makes sense

It can seem odd that a new banknote takes years rather than months. But the $5 project combines several elements that each take time: a public consultation, a selection panel, an artwork, and then the conversion of that artwork into a working note. The RBA has published each step as it has been reached rather than announcing a fixed end date in advance.

That stands in contrast to much of the RBA's other work at the moment. The Monetary Policy Board raised the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.85 per cent on 3 November 2026, effective 4 November, and its next decision is due on 8 December. The card Surcharge removal took effect on 1 October 2026 under the card networks' rules. Those are dated, scheduled events. The banknote is governed by a different rhythm, set by creative and design work rather than a meeting calendar.

There is also a link to the RBA's broader interest in cash. The Payments System Board's update of 27 August 2026 noted that the Cash Distribution Framework Act 2026 had commenced that day, describing it as "a significant step towards supporting the long-term sustainability of the cash distribution system." That legislation is about how cash is distributed rather than what notes look like, but it is a reminder that the RBA continues to treat physical cash as part of the payments system.

A quick summary of the timeline so far

For readers who want the sequence at a glance, based on the RBA's published material:

  • 1 March to 30 April 2024: public consultation on the new $5 design.
  • Parameters set out in 2024: the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II to be replaced; the Australian Parliament retained on the other side; a group of First Nations artists to be invited to submit a design.
  • Public response: more than 2,100 submissions.
  • Theme chosen: "Connection to Country", selected by the Imagery Selection Panel.
  • Next: artwork created, then translated into a banknote design.
  • Not yet announced: the artist and the release date.

The bottom line

The $5 note project has moved from public ideas to a panel decision. More than 2,100 submissions fed into the process, and the Imagery Selection Panel chose "Connection to Country", a theme reflecting "the enduring connection that First Nations peoples have to Country."

The next steps are the creation of an artwork guided by that theme, and then its translation into a banknote design that will replace the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II while the other side keeps the Australian Parliament. The RBA has not named an artist or given a release date, so for now the note in wallets stays the same. The project's next public milestone will be the artwork itself.