When was decimal currency introduced in australia

Various post-Federation Australian governments had considered decimalisation from as early as , but they ultimately took their lead from Britain, which remained firmly against the idea.

It wasn't until the late s that the Menzies government finally recognised the economic importance of converting Australia's currency to a new decimalised one, in keeping with those of many of its trading partners and the overwhelming majority of the world. The argument for switching came down to a simple practical consideration. The Australian pound, like its British counterpart, was divided into 20 shillings of 12 pence each, making the arithmetic of financial transactions unnecessarily difficult.

This wasn't just a question of personal convenience but of national productivity. Note the cent coin far right, which when first launched was circular and made mostly of silver. To date, the only compelling argument against decimalisation was the Australian pound's symbolic connection to Britain.

But in the years following the Second World War, Australians were feeling less wedded to the mother country. In the election campaign, Menzies promised to seriously consider decimalisation, but once in power did not exactly prioritise the issue. Treasurer Harold Holt appointed a Decimal Currency Committee in February to examine the merits of decimalisation but it took three years to report.

However, following the committee's recommendations, the government introduced the Currency Act , which nominated 14 February as Changeover Day or C-Day , followed by a two-year transition period during which both currencies would be legal tender. Decimalisation gave Australia the opportunity to create an entirely new currency that, through its name and the design of its notes and coins, would reflect how the nation saw itself.

In June Menzies, ever the monarchist, rejected all of these in favour of the Royal. However, this met with widespread public disapproval and three months later Holt announced that the new currency would be the dollar, divided into cents.

The public reaction to this was a lot more positive. Decimalisation presented major logistical challenges. Designs for notes and coins had to be finalised, staff in the finance sector had to be trained, and everything from cash registers to petrol pumps had to be converted.

It also demanded a major public awareness campaign that had to firstly convince the Australian public of the value of decimalisation then reassure them that the transition would be carried out as smoothly as possible. It also had to educate people about how to convert prices. All of this was overseen by the Decimal Currency Board, headed by Sir Walter Scott whose regular appearances on national television offered reassurance about the technicalities of the change.

He also made regular appearances in newspaper comic strips and crosswords, booklets and brochures. Decimalisation met with some resistance among sections of the public averse to change, but ultimately it was an easy sell for the board.

People were given plenty of time to get used to the idea of decimalisation, every issue that would arise from the process was explained and addressed, and ultimately it was hard to argue against its merits. An important feature of the new currency was that its coins and notes would be entirely produced in Australia by Australian organisations.

The federal government had been printing notes since but to produce enough coins for decimalisation it was necessary to build an entirely new mint. It opened a year ahead of C-Day and, with help from the Royal Mint in London and its branches in Australia, was able to produce and stockpile about one billion coins in good time.

Both currencies could be used during the transition period; here, the cost of the soft toy is shown in both dollars and shillings. Credit: National Archives of Australia. A competition to crowdsource a name for the new currency was launched, attracting thousands of creative suggestions.

His choice proved so overwhelmingly unpopular that the Government had to backtrack a few months later. New notes and coins were designed. Bank machinery, parking meters, cash registers and petrol pumps all had to be converted. The cartoon character Dollar Bill helped Australians learn about the new decimal system. Throughout the two-year phasing-out period, citizens could use either the old or new currency to pay for goods and services, and any change they received would be dollars and cents.

The Reserve Bank gradually withdrew the old money, while some of the old coins were recycled to make new ones by the Royal Australian Mint. It also paved the way for metrification in the s — that is, the official conversion of measurements from the imperial system ounces, inches to the metric system grams, metres. There is perhaps only one loss resulting from this momentous day: the coin in the Christmas pudding.

It was a long-standing tradition to bake a silver coin into the pudding, which brought luck to whoever found it in their serving. Cooking the new-fangled coins turned them a ghastly green, thanks to their copper and nickel content. Remembering the Indigenous resistance fighter determined to maintain Aboriginal traditions by resisting British rule.

On 4 May , the first brown trout eggs ever successfully shipped to Australia hatched in the cool waters of Plenty River, Tasmania — causing a ripple effect for both fishing and conservation that endures to this day. Australians have commemorated Anzac Day on 25 April for more than a century, but the ceremonies and their meanings have changed significantly since Close Menu. Facebook Twitter Instagram Instagram Adventure. Technical specifications. Related stamp issues.

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