18 Australian GeographicPart of the Defining Moments in Australian History project.
To find out more: nma.gov.au/definingmomentsPHOTO CREDIT: COURTESY NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA14 February 1966:
Australia introduces dollars and cents
I
N 1910 our nation created its own
currency based on the Australian
pound. Decimalisation had been
considered but we followed the lead of
Britain, which was firmly against it.
By the late 1950s, however, the Menzies
government recognised the sense of
converting Australia’s currency to a
decimalised one, in keeping with those
of many of our trading partners.
Support for switching came down to
practicalities – like its British counter-
part, the Australian pound was divided
into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.
Financial transactions were complicated.
National productivity was also an issue,
with research showing decimalisation
would annually save our economy at
least £11 million, quickly offsetting the
£30 million cost of converting.
The main argument against was the
Australian pound’s symbolic connection
to Britain. But after World War II
Australians were less wedded to the
mother country. In February 1959,
treasurer Harold Holt appointed the
Decimal Currency Committee to
examine decimalisation’s merits. Its
findings led to the Currency Act 1963,
which nominated 14 February 1966 as
Changeover Day (C-Day), followed by
a two-year transition period when both
currencies would be legal tender.
Decimalisation gave Australia a
chance to create an entirely new
currency with a name and design that
reflected how the nation saw itself.
About 1000 suggestions came from a
public competition for a name “with
an Australian flavour”. These included
the austral, oz, boomer, roo, kanga,
emu, koala, digger, zac, kwid, dinkum
and ming (Menzies’ nickname). In June
1963, Menzies, ever the monarchist,
rejected them all in favour of the Royal.This was met with general disap-
proval but public reaction was more
positive when Holt later announced the
new currency would be the Australian
dollar, divided into 100 cents.
C-Day presented huge logistical
challenges. Designs for notes and coins
were required, finance sector staff had
to be trained and conversions were
needed on everything from cash
registers to petrol pumps. A public
awareness campaign was launched to
promote the value of decimalisation,
ensure a smooth transition and educate
about price conversions.
It was all overseen by the Decimal
Currency Board, headed by Sir Walter
Scott whose regular national TV
appearances offered reassurances about
the change. But the campaign’s poster
boy was Dollar Bill, a cartoon figure
who appeared across all media for two
years before C-Day. This included a TV
commercial called Dollar Bill and
Australians Keep the Wheels of Industry
Turning, which included a jingle sung
to the tune of ‘Click go the shears’.
Decimalisation was mostly an easy
sell. People were given ample time toadjust to the idea, every potential issue
was explained and addressed, and it was
hard to argue against its merits.
It was notable that the new currency
would be produced entirely in Australia.
The federal government had been
printing notes since 1913 but to
produce enough coins for decimalisa-
tion a new mint had to be built; the
Royal Australian Mint, in Canberra,
was decimalisation’s biggest single cost.
It opened a year ahead of C-Day and
was able to produce and stockpile
about 1 billion coins in good time.
Regarding design, Australian wildlife
depictions were chosen for our coins;
notes were to reflect our history and
contribution to the world. To make
transition easier, decimal denominations
matched to their pound/shilling/pence
counterparts – the $1 bill, for example,
replaced the 10 shilling note. But the
overall look and feel of notes was
radically different from what Australians
had seen before.
C-Day finally came and went with
little fuss. Three months before, hand-
picked, well-armed police escorted
dozens of semi-trailers loaded with new
currency to stock the nation’s banks,
which closed four days ahead of C-Day
to convert machinery and processes.
Upon reopening on Monday
14 February 1966, they were able to
immediately start issuing new currency
to long queues. Even the Decimal
Currency Board was reportedly
surprised by how smoothly things went.
Australia’s experience was monitored
by New Zealand and Britain, which
switched to decimal currency in 1967
and 1971, respectively. And the success
of our decimal conversion paved the
way for metrification of our weights
and measures in the early 1970s.Wildlife motifs featured on the new
decimalised Australian coins.Switch to decimal currency