Queen’s portrait to be removed from $5 note and replaced with First Nations theme

The Reserve Bank of Australia says the Queen will no longer grace the $5 note and will soon be replaced by another image. And, no, it’s not the King.

The bank says it wants to try something new on the $5 note, not simply replacing the Queen with another portrait but an image that reflects what has shaped Australia and helped the nation grow.

On Monday, it was announced that the new image would be an artwork honouring the “enduring emotional, spiritual, and physical connection of First Nations peoples to Country.”

An imagery selection panel, which includes senior representatives from the Reserve Bank and Note Printing Australia, along with prominent First Nations business and community members, made the decision after an Australia-wide campaign which led to more than 2100 nominations from the public.

The reverse side of the note will continue to feature Parliament House.

When the redesign was first flagged in February 2023, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton blasted it as an “attack on society” and “woke nonsense”.

He was quoted saying that replacing British royalty with Indigenous history was “another attack on our systems, on our society and our institutions” and likened it to the campaign to move Australia Day away from January 26.

But at the time Jim Chalmers was supportive.

“This is the right decision for the right reasons ... to ensure that the new $5 note recognises and celebrates the culture and history and heritage of Indigenous Australians,” he said.

Dr Chalmers, who supports Australia becoming a republic, said switching up the $5 note struck a good balance between recognising the monarch on our coins and recognising First Australians on the $5 note.

Assistant Governor (Business Services) Michelle McPhee said in a statement on Monday that the theme encompassed the “deep connection First Nations peoples have to the land, the waters and the sky”.

“This inspiring theme will guide the creation of an artwork that will feature on the redesigned banknote.”

It is expected to be years before the first of the newly redesigned notes hit circulation.

The artist who will draw the design has been asked to reflect how the decision to overturn the concept of terra nullis allowed for the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ connection to country for 1000s of years.

The Queen’s image was added to the $5 note in the 1992.

The most recent update to the $5 bank note was in 2016. There have been four different $5 note designs since the 1960s.

Following the death of the Queen on September 8, 2022, the King’s image now appears on all Australian coins.