From Theme to Artwork: The Next Step in Designing the New $5 Note

Sonal Goyal

01 October 2026 10:26 AM AEST

From Theme to Artwork: The Next Step in Designing the New $5 Note

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With "Connection to Country" chosen as the theme for Australia's new $5 note, the project now moves to artists, whose work will inform the final design of the banknote.

Most Australians handle a $5 note without a second thought. It buys a coffee, tops up a child's pocket money or sits folded in a coat pocket for months. Yet the design of that small piece of polymer is the subject of one of the Reserve Bank of Australia's more distinctive projects: reimagining the $5 note to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

The project has already passed one milestone. After inviting ideas from the public, the RBA chose the theme "Connection to Country" from more than 2,100 public submissions (as announced in 2025). The next step is creative rather than conceptual: artists will create artwork based on that theme, and their work will inform the final design of the note.

This article looks at where the project stands, what the move from theme to artwork involves, and what remains unknown.

How the project got here

The new $5 note is intended to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, replacing a portrait-based design. That represents a substantial shift in how the note will present Australia. Rather than centring an individual, the design will draw on themes rooted in the cultures of Australia's First Peoples.

The RBA opened the process to the public, and the response was significant: more than 2,100 submissions. From those, "Connection to Country" was chosen as the theme.

Guiding the project is an Imagery Selection Panel made up of RBA officials, representatives of Note Printing Australia (the organisation that produces Australia's banknotes) and prominent First Nations community members. The panel's composition reflects the dual nature of the task: the design has to be culturally meaningful and appropriate, and it has to work as a secure, practical banknote.

What "Connection to Country" conveys

In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, "Country" generally refers to far more than a location on a map. It is commonly understood to encompass land, waters and sky, together with the relationships, knowledge, responsibilities and identity bound up with them. Connection to Country speaks to an enduring relationship between people and place, one that is spiritual, cultural and practical at once.

For a banknote, that is both a rich and a demanding theme. Rich, because it opens up a wide range of possible imagery and meaning. Demanding, because it must be expressed in a way that is respectful, that reflects the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures across the continent and islands, and that can be translated into the constrained space of a small note.

It is worth being careful here: the RBA has chosen the theme, but it has not yet published a design. How artists interpret "Connection to Country", and how their work shapes the final note, remains to be seen.

The move from theme to artwork

The next phase of the project involves artists creating artwork based on the theme. According to the RBA, this artwork will inform the final design.

That wording matters. Banknote design is not usually a matter of reproducing a single painting on polymer. A finished note must carry security features that make it hard to counterfeit, remain legible and recognisable to the public, work for people with low vision, and be printable at scale with consistent quality. In general, banknote designers take artistic material and adapt it to fit those constraints, integrating it with the technical elements of the note.

So the artwork created in this phase is best understood as a foundation. It will shape the visual language and meaning of the note, but the final design will also reflect the practical demands of producing a currency that millions of people rely on. The involvement of Note Printing Australia representatives on the Imagery Selection Panel points to that practical side of the process, while the presence of prominent First Nations community members points to the cultural side.

What is not yet known is just as important. It is tempting to look ahead to the day a new $5 note appears in wallets and tills. But the RBA has not given a release date, and it would be speculative to suggest one. Details such as the finished artwork, a draft design or the number of artists involved are also yet to be seen.

What the RBA has set out is the sequence:

the theme, "Connection to Country", has been chosen from more than 2,100 public submissions;
artists will create artwork based on that theme;
that artwork will inform the final design;
the Imagery Selection Panel will continue to guide the project.

Members of the public who want to follow the process can subscribe for updates through the RBA's banknotes website.

Why a banknote's design matters

At one level, a banknote is simply a means of payment. At another, it is one of the most widely circulated pieces of public design in any country. People handle notes daily, and their imagery helps shape how a nation represents itself, both to its own citizens and to visitors.

That is part of why the process has involved the public and why the panel includes First Nations community members alongside central bankers and printers. A design intended to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures needs to be shaped with those cultures, not merely about them.

For those following the new $5 note, some open questions include:

How will artists interpret "Connection to Country"?
How will the final design balance artistic expression with security and accessibility requirements?
How will the Imagery Selection Panel's guidance be reflected in the outcome?
When will the RBA share more detail on the design and the timing of its release?

The bottom line

The new $5 note has moved from idea to theme, and is now moving from theme to artwork. "Connection to Country", chosen from more than 2,100 public submissions, will be interpreted by artists whose work will inform the final design, with an Imagery Selection Panel of RBA officials, Note Printing Australia representatives and prominent First Nations community members guiding the way.

FAQs

Q: What theme was chosen for the new $5 note?

A: The RBA chose "Connection to Country" from more than 2,100 public submissions. The note is designed to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and replaces a portrait-based design.

Q: What happens next in the project?

A: Artists will create artwork based on the theme, and that artwork will inform the final design. The Imagery Selection Panel continues to guide the project.

Q: When will the new $5 note be released?

A: The RBA has not given a release date. Members of the public can subscribe for updates through the RBA's banknotes website.

FAQs

Q: What theme was chosen for the new $5 note?

A: The RBA chose Connection to Country from more than 2,100 public submissions. The note is designed to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and replaces a portrait-based design.

Q: What happens next in the project?

A: Artists will create artwork based on the theme, and that artwork will inform the final design. The Imagery Selection Panel continues to guide the project.

Q: When will the new $5 note be released?

A: The RBA has not given a release date. Members of the public can subscribe for updates through the RBA's banknotes website.

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