The Journey Towards a Less Cash Australia

Despite headline currency in circulation at near record levels, A$102.22 billion on issue at the end of July 2022 (that’s 27% higher than the July 2019 level), substantially less cash is being used in Australia. The COVID-19 pandemic has sharply accelerated what was an emerging trend towards lower transactional cash use as Australians enthusiastically embrace other forms of payment methods, most notably debit cards, contactless and faster electronic payments.

Set against this trend of a desire to hold cash as a safeguard and store of wealth, but less enthusiasm to actually use it for day-to-day payments, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) undertook a review of the country’s Banknote Distribution Arrangements (BDA). As part of the review the RBA published an Issues Paper inviting interested parties to comment about the arrangements in place for distributing banknotes around the country. The review sought to identify what changes could make the banknote distribution system more effective, efficient, sustainable and resilient.