Australia’s New Banknote Aids Blind People

To combat counterfeit money, Australia is releasing a new series of bank notes, with the new A$5 banknote rolled out first. Distinctive security features include a top to bottom window, an eastern spinebill (commonly found in Australia) moving its wings seen when tilted, the number 5 inside an illustrated building on the note appears backwards, disappears and appears forward, and on the other side, there’s a patch that changes ink color in a rolling effect.

Another cool factor? The new banknote has tactile markings on the side, two dots along its sides, to be exact, letting blind or vision-impaired people to quickly identify its value. The new design was initiated in 2012 when then-12-year-old Connor McLeod launched a discrimination complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission and started a petition on Change.org asking the Reserve Bank of Australia to incorporate tactile markings in bank notes. Besides the new, it’s certainly a step towards helping the estimated 360,000 blind or visually impaired community in Australia. Though a new series of bank notes are being released, all existing bank notes can still be used; with similar design aspects including color, size and portraits printed on notes will remain to familiarize the public with the new notes.