Note Printing Australia

NPA polymer banknotes

In the mid 1960s Australia was hit by forgeries of the newly introduced $10 paper decimal note. In response, the Reserve Bank of Australia and Note Printing Australia commissioned the CSIRO to find better ways to secure the Australian currency. This led to the development of the polymer banknote, which the NPA took into production and introduced in 1988. NPA has since focused heavily in promoting the benefits of the polymer technology they developed. According to internal RBA documents, NPA's printing costs in 2012 were 34¢ per note.

Use of polymer banknote technology in Australia and other countries

While NPA was initially involved in the production of the polymer substrate, a subsidiary company was created in 1996 that effectively removed NPA from this aspect of the banknote supply chain. Today, polymer substrate is manufactured in Australia by CCL Secure, which is wholly owned by CCL Industries, a Canadian publicly listed company. Polymer banknotes are now issued in more than 60 countries worldwide, including Canada.

Since 1988, NPA has printed more than 10 billion banknotes for 19 countries on more than 80 denominations. NPA has won numerous awards for its business and printing capability. In 2020, NPA won the Currency Services Award by the London-based industry organisation Central Banking and won a Printing Industry Craftsmanship Awards Gold Medal for the design and production of the Solomon Islands new $5 polymer banknote.