EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by authority of the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
Currency Act 1965
Currency (Australian Coins) Amendment (2025 Royal Australian Mint No. 5) Determination 2025
Subsection 13(2) and section 13A of the Currency Act 1965 (the Act) provide that the Treasurer may, by legislative instrument, determine details of Australian coin characteristics including denomination, standard composition, standard weight, allowable variation from standard weight, design and dimensions.
The purpose of this legislative instrument is to determine the characteristics of 18 new non-circulating coins proposed to be issued by the Royal Australian Mint.
The Treasurer may authorise the making and issuing of coins specified, or taken to be specified, in the Schedule to the Currency Act 1965. A payment of money is a legal tender if it is made in coins that are made and issued under the Currency Act 1965. Through the issue of a currency determination, the Treasurer can add, remove and alter the coin characteristics specified, or taken to be specified, in the Schedule to the Currency Act 1965.
In accordance with section 19 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, any Minister in the Treasury portfolio may, by legislative instrument, determine details of Australian coin characteristics.
Details of the legislative instrument are set out in the Attachment.
The legislative instrument commenced on the day after it was registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
The legislative instrument is subject to disallowance under section 42 of the Legislation Act 2003.
The Determination is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003. The Determination is not subject to sunsetting under the Legislation Act 2003 on the grounds that the instrument ensures economic certainty (see item 20 of the table in section 12 of the Legislation (Exemptions and Other Matters) Regulation 2015). The instrument’s operation is integral in ensuring that the currency produced by the Mints becomes, and remains, legal tender unless or until returned to a mint to be taken out of circulation in accordance with the Currency Act 1965.
Consultation
No public consultation was undertaken in relation to this legislative instrument. The effect of this instrument is to determine details of new Australian coin characteristics which will enable the Royal Australian Mint to continue its production of circulating and numismatic coins.
Members of the public have the opportunity to contact the Royal Australian Mint to present any themes they would like to see commemorated on Australian legal tender. These concepts are then researched and assessed in accordance with the Royal Australian Mint’s coin design policies. The Royal Australian Mint also uses market-based tools to identify interested parties and gauge interest in coin themes.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Currency (Australian Coins) Amendment (2025 Royal Australian Mint No. 5) Determination 2025
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the Legislative Instrument
The purpose of this legislative instrument is to determine the characteristics of 18 new non-circulating coins proposed to be issued by the Royal Australian Mint.
Human rights implications
This Legislative Instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.
Conclusion
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.
ATTACHMENT
Details of the Currency (Australian Coins) Amendment (2025 Royal Australian Mint No. 5) Determination 2025
This Attachment sets out further details of the Currency (Australian Coins) Amendment (2025 Royal Australian Mint No. 5) Determination 2025 (the Determination).
Section 1 – Name
This section provides that the name of the Determination is the Currency (Australian Coins) Amendment (2025 Royal Australian Mint No. 5) Determination 2025.
Section 2 – Commencement
This section prescribes that the Determination commences the day after the Determination is registered.
Section 3 – Authority
This section provides that the Determination is made under the Currency Act 1965.
Section 4 – Schedule
This section provides that each instrument specified in a Schedule to the Determination is amended or repealed as set out in the Schedule.
Schedule 1 – Amendments
Schedule 1 amends the Currency (Australian Coins) Determination 2019 by adding the details of new coin characteristics. The newly determined coin characteristics are set out below.
New non-circulating coins
2025 20c Coloured Uncirculated Coin – The Rainbow Serpent 50th Anniversary
2025 20c Gold-Plated Coloured Uncirculated Coin – The Rainbow Serpent 50th Anniversary
The design on the 2025 20c Coloured Uncirculated coins – The Rainbow Serpent 50th Anniversary, inspired by the Australian children’s book The Rainbow Serpent (1975) by Indigenous author and artist Dick Roughsey (an adaptation of the Indigenous Australian mythological deity known as Goorialla, the great Rainbow Serpent), consists of a circular border immediately inside the rim. Partially obscuring the border, there is a stylised representation of two converging spears dividing the coin into three unevenly divided sections, each enclosing a coloured stylised representation of:
- Goorialla rising up on the horizon of a desert landscape; and
- Goorialla, with its body partially coiled and tongue sticking out from its mouth, with trees, partially obscured by Goorialla, in the background; and
- four Indigenous people standing together on grass, three of them each holding a spear, with a tree, the beach, the ocean and the sky in the background.
Partially obscuring the border, the converging spears and each unevenly divided section, there is a stylised representation of Goorialla, as depicted in The Rainbow Serpent, slithering around a rocky mountain with its mouth open, with rocks falling from each side of the mountain. The design includes the following inscriptions: “50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE RAINBOW SERPENT”; and Arabic numerals for the amount, in dollars or cents, of the denomination of the coin, followed by “DOLLAR”, “DOLLARS” or “CENTS” as the case requires.
Consistent with the tradition of an effigy of the reigning monarch appearing on the obverse side of all Australian legal tender coinage, an effigy of His Majesty King Charles III will appear on the obverse side of the coins together with the inscriptions “CHARLES III”, “AUSTRALIA”, and the inscription, in numerals, of a year. The obverse design includes the initials of the designer Dan Thorne “DT”.
2026 $10 ‘C’ Mintmark Gold Proof Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘C’ Mintmark Silver Proof Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘C’ Mintmark Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘S’ Privy Mark Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘M’ Privy Mark Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘B’ Privy Mark Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘Flower’ Privy Mark Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘Envelope’ Privy Mark Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘S’ Counterstamp Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘B’ Counterstamp Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘M’ Counterstamp Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘A’ Counterstamp Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘P’ Counterstamp Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘Australia Map’ Counterstamp Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
2026 $1 ‘60’ Counterstamp Uncirculated Coin – Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary
The design on the 2026 Australian Decimal Currency 60th Anniversary coins consists of a central circle enclosing “60” and “YEARS”. Surrounding and partially obscured by the central circle, there is a stylised representation of the following: a lyrebird; a kangaroo; an echidna; a platypus; a feathertail glider; a frilled-neck lizard; an emu; and five stars. Partially obscured by the animals, the five stars and the central circle, there is a stylised representation of a ribbon weaving between the animals. The design includes the following inscriptions: “AUSTRALIAN DECIMAL CURRENCY”; and the denomination of the coin in words, followed by “DOLLAR”, “DOLLARS” or “CENTS” as the case requires. On the mintmark, privy mark and counterstamp coins is either a mintmark, privy mark or counterstamp of the following nature:
- the letter “C”, denoting Canberra; or
- the letter “S”, denoting Sydney, enclosed in a square; or
- the letter “M” denoting Melbourne, enclosed in a square; or
- the letter “B”, denoting Brisbane, enclosed in a square; or
- a stylised representation of Wahlenbergia gloriosa (also known as the royal bluebell) enclosed in a square; or
- a stylised representation of an envelope; or
- the letter “S”, denoting Sydney, enclosed in a circle; or
- the letter “B”, denoting Brisbane, enclosed in a circle; or
- the letter “M” denoting Melbourne, enclosed in a circle; or
- the letter “A” denoting Adelaide, enclosed in a circle; or
- the letter “P” denoting Perth, enclosed in a circle; or
- a stylised representation of a map of Australia enclosed in a circle; or
- the number “60” enclosed in a circle.
Consistent with the tradition of an effigy of the reigning monarch appearing on the obverse side of all Australian legal tender coinage, an effigy of His Majesty King Charles III will appear on the obverse side of the coins together with the inscriptions “CHARLES III”, “AUSTRALIA”, and the inscription, in numerals, of a year. The obverse design includes the initials of the designer Dan Thorne “DT”.