EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by authority of the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
Currency Act 1965
Currency (Australian Coins) Amendment (2026 Royal Australian Mint No. 6) Determination 2026
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 2 new circulating and 6 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 (2026 Royal Australian Mint No. 6) Determination 2026
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 2 new circulating and 6 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 (2026 Royal Australian Mint No. 6) Determination 2026
This Attachment sets out further details of the Currency (Australian Coins) Amendment (2026 Royal Australian Mint No. 6) Determination 2026 (the Determination).
Section 1 – Name
This section provides that the name of the Determination is the Currency (Australian Coins) Amendment (2026 Royal Australian Mint No. 6) Determination 2026.
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 circulating coins
2027 $2 Coloured Circulating Coin – Anzac Biscuit
The design on the 2027 $2 coloured circulating coin – Anzac biscuit consists of, in the centre of the coin, a representation of a biscuit on a scallop-edged plate. On the rim of the plate, there is a blue and white printed ornamental border including the following: oat plant, rosemary sprigs, rising sun, setting sun and larks. Partially surrounding the plate, there is a doily pattern. The design includes the following inscriptions: “ANZAC BISCUIT”; a representation of the designer’s initials “NF” (being the initials of the designer Neve Foxcroft) stylised as a fox; and the denomination of the coin in words, followed by “DOLLARS”, “DOLLAR” 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 coin together with the inscriptions “CHARLES III”, “AUSTRALIA” and the inscription, in Arabic numerals, of a year. The obverse design includes the initials of the designer Dan Thorne “DT”.
2026 50c Circulating Coin – Wave Hill Walk Off & Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976
The design on the 2026 50c circulating coin – Wave Hill Walk Off & Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 consists of, inside the rim of the coin, a circular border. Partially obscuring the circular border, there is a line of fifteen Indigenous people and a dog, viewed from behind, walking across a dirt plain and casting representations of shadows, which form the word ‘UNITY’. In the background, there are the following sections of Indigenous activist Vincent Lingiari’s speech at the Wave Hill Station Handover Ceremony, partially obscured by the circular border:
- “LET US LIVE HAPPILY TOGETHER AS MATES, LET US NOT MAKE IT HARD FOR EACH OTHER”; and
- “WE WANT TO LIVE IN A BETTER WAY TOGETHER, ABORIGINALS AND WHITE MEN, LET US NOT FIGHT OVER ANYTHING, LET US BE MATES”; and
- “NGUMPIN, KARTIYA KARRU-LA JINTAKU-LA” (in Gurindji language), “BLACKFELLA, WHITEFELLA UNITE AS ONE” (in English).
Partially obscuring the sections of speech, there is a stylised representation of a landscape consisting of rolling hills, and a stylised hand (representing the hand of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam) pouring dirt into an open hand (representing the hand of Indigenous activist Vincent Lingiari). The design includes the following inscriptions: “GURINDJI WAVE HILL WALK OFF 1966”; and “BIRTHPLACE OF ABORIGINAL LAND RIGHTS ACT 1976”.
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 coin together with the inscriptions “CHARLES III”, “AUSTRALIA”, the inscription, in Arabic numerals, of a year and Arabic numerals for the amount, in dollars or cents, of the denomination of the coin, followed by “DOLLARS”, “DOLLAR” or “CENTS” as the case requires. The obverse design includes the initials of the designer Dan Thorne “DT”.
New non-circulating coins
2027 $2 ‘C’ Mintmark Coloured Uncirculated Coin – Anzac Biscuit
2027 $2 ‘C’ Mintmark Coloured Silver Proof Coin – Anzac Biscuit
The design on the 2027 $2 ‘C’ mintmark coloured coins – Anzac biscuit consists of, in the centre of the coin, a representation of a biscuit on a scallop-edged plate. On the rim of the plate, there is a blue and white printed ornamental border including the following: oat plant, rosemary sprigs, rising sun, setting sun and larks. Partially surrounding the plate, there is a doily pattern. The design includes the following inscriptions: “ANZAC BISCUIT”; a representation of the designer’s initials “NF” (being the initials of the designer Neve Foxcroft) stylised as a fox; the denomination of the coin in words, followed by “DOLLARS”, “DOLLAR” or “CENTS” as the case requires; and “C”.
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 Arabic numerals, of a year. The obverse design includes the initials of the designer Dan Thorne “DT”.
2026 50c Uncirculated Coin – Wave Hill Walk Off & Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976
2026 50c Silver Proof Coin – Wave Hill Walk Off & Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976
The design on the 2026 50c coins – Wave Hill Walk Off & Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 consists of, inside the rim of the coin, a circular border. Partially obscuring the circular border, there is a line of fifteen Indigenous people and a dog, viewed from behind, walking across a dirt plain and casting representations of shadows, which form the word ‘UNITY’. In the background, there are the following sections of Indigenous activist Vincent Lingiari’s speech at the Wave Hill Station Handover Ceremony, partially obscured by the circular border:
- “LET US LIVE HAPPILY TOGETHER AS MATES, LET US NOT MAKE IT HARD FOR EACH OTHER”; and
- “WE WANT TO LIVE IN A BETTER WAY TOGETHER, ABORIGINALS AND WHITE MEN, LET US NOT FIGHT OVER ANYTHING, LET US BE MATES”; and
- “NGUMPIN, KARTIYA KARRU-LA JINTAKU-LA” (in Gurindji language), “BLACKFELLA, WHITEFELLA UNITE AS ONE” (in English).
Partially obscuring the sections of speech, there is a stylised representation of a landscape consisting of rolling hills, and a stylised hand (representing the hand of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam) pouring dirt into an open hand (representing the hand of Indigenous activist Vincent Lingiari). The design includes the following inscriptions: “GURINDJI WAVE HILL WALK OFF 1966”; and “BIRTHPLACE OF ABORIGINAL LAND RIGHTS ACT 1976”.
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”, the inscription, in Arabic numerals, of a year and Arabic numerals for the amount, in dollars or cents, of the denomination of the coin, followed by “DOLLARS”, “DOLLAR” or “CENTS” as the case requires. The obverse design includes the initials of the designer Dan Thorne “DT”.
2026 50c Coloured Uncirculated Coin – First Australian Television Broadcast 70th Anniversary
2026 50c Coloured Silver Proof Coin – First Australian Television Broadcast 70th Anniversary
The design on the 2026 50c coloured coins – first Australian television broadcast 70th anniversary consists of stylised representations of the following elements (each of which is partially obscuring another):
- stars; and
- musical notes; and
- curved lines; and
- a satellite; and
- clouds; and
- the sun; and
- raindrops; and
- the cartoon character Dollar Bill from the Decimal Currency Conversion Jingle (1965), as created by Monty Wedd and drawn by Laurie Sharpe; and
- figures participating in different sports; and
- a first prize medal containing the inscription “1”, with two ribbon tails with the inscriptions “MELBOURNE” and “1956”; and
- different sports balls; and
- scattered cricket stumps and bails; and
- three toy racing cars; and
- a painter’s palette and two paintbrushes; and
- a kangaroo; and
- an astronaut in a spacesuit standing on the moon, staking a flag; and
- a lunar module; and
- a bolt of lightning; and
- two theatrical masks (Thalia and Melpomene); and
- a pair of handcuffs, one locked, and one unlocked; and
- a spoon, fork, knife and a fish; and
- a hand casting a ballot into a voting ballot box containing the inscription “VOTE”; and
- two dollar signs; and
- two trees; and
- an Akubra hat; and
- a transmission tower with a stylised signal radiating out, forming an arc; and
- a van; and
- a wedding ring and engagement ring overlapping; and
- a television set and screen from the 1950s; and
- a television camera; and
- a radio microphone; and
- a crocodile standing on its hindlegs; and
- a house with the roof detached, a hammer and a saw; and
- a crown; and
- a sign displaying the inscription “QUIZ”; and
- five playing cards, two of which display question marks; and
- a car; and
- a bar of soap surrounded by bubbles; and
- two toy teddy bears; and
- three figures dancing, one of which is holding a guitar.
Partially obscuring the rest of the elements, there are light blue, yellow, green, white, black, dark blue, pink and red coloured shapes. The design includes the following inscriptions: “AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING”; “1956-2026”; “50”; and “AB” (being the initials of the designer Aaron Baggio) in a stylised form.
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 Arabic numerals, of a year. The obverse design includes the initials of the designer Dan Thorne “DT”.