2019-03-05 Tue

On 22nd February, the Reserve Bank of Australia released designs for a new polymer $20 note which is slated for circulation in October. The new notes will feature portraits of Mary Reibey and Rev. John Flynn just like the current notes. However, the new notes will have upgraded security features which have been implemented on the latest $5, $10 and $50 banknotes.

The security features include a top-to-bottom clear window, dynamic images like a flying kookaburra that changes colour, and a reversing number 20, rolling-colour effect and excerpts from Flynn’s book The Bushman’s Companion and the names of ships owned by Reibey in microprinting. Following the theme of featuring a native wattle and a bird, the latest $20 depicts an Acacia buxifolia and a laughing kookaburra.

Mary Reibey was a convict from Australia who gradually became successful in the shipping and trading business. She always supported charity, religion and education. The new $20 note features a Port Jackson schooner in Sydney Cove in the 1800s, like the ones owned by Reibey, a traditional canoe and aboriginal fisherwomen.

John Flynn was responsible for providing the world’s first aerial medical service in 1928. Known as Royal Flying Doctor Service today, the organisation has a mission of “mantle of safety” across almost 3 million square miles. It is the best aeromedical emergency and healthcare service provider in the world today. The note depicts an RFDS De Havilland aircraft leaving a farmhouse in 1948 and a pedal-powered radio transceiver that was used for communication in remote areas.

Image Courtesy: Reserve Bank of Australia